Infinitely Losing My Edge
Yeah, I'm losing my edge.
I'm losing my edge.
The kids are coming up from behind.
I'm losing my edge.
I'm losing my edge to the kids from Syria and from Calgary.
But I was there.
I was there in 1976.
I was there at the first Soft Boys show in Cambridge.
I'm losing my edge.
I'm losing my edge to the kids whose footsteps I hear when they get on the decks.
I'm losing my edge to the internet seekers who can tell me every member of every good group from 1965 to 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Johannesburg and Stockholm.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Glasgow kids in little jackets and borrowed nostalgia for the unremembered nineties.
I'm losing my edge.
I'm losing my edge.
I can hear the footsteps every night on the decks.
But I was there.
I was there in 1983 at the first Bronski Beat practice in a loft in Brixton.
I was working on the chamberlin sounds with much patience.
I was there when Holger Czukay started up his first band.
I told him, "Don't do it that way. You'll never make a dime."
I was there.
I was the first guy playing John Coltrane to the rap kids.
I played it at the Spitz.
Everybody thought I was crazy.
We all know.
I was there.
I was there.
I've never been wrong.
But I'm losing my edge to better-looking people with better ideas and more talent.
And they're actually really, really nice.
I'm losing my edge.
I heard you have a compilation of every good song ever done by anybody.
Every great song by Bang on a Can All-Stars. All the underground hits.
All The Fall tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every the Fania All-Stars record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal dance hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a marimba and a snare and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Barry Ungar record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought an oboe.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a guitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Scratch Acid,
Vladislav Delay,
New York Dolls,
Mark Hollis,
Crooked Eye,
Oblivians,
David McCallum,
The Modern Lovers,
Skaos,
Terrestrial Tones,
Chris & Cosey,
The United States of America,
Al Stewart,
Bob Dylan,
Howard Jones,
Gang Starr,
Laurel Aitken,
The Zeros,
Slave,
The Fortunes,
The Cowsills,
Brand Nubian,
The American Breed,
Lightning Bolt,
Drive Like Jehu,
Kool Moe Dee,
Stockholm Monsters,
FM Einheit,
Ituana,
The Skatalites,
John Holt,
Goldenarms,
Fatback Band,
Bobby Sherman,
Jerry's Kids,
Maurizio,
Radiohead,
The Sound,
John Foxx,
T.S.O.L.,
The Kinks,
Kevin Saunderson,
The Index,
Angry Samoans,
Eurythmics,
Spandau Ballet,
The Golliwogs,
Shuggie Otis,
The Busters,
Subhumans,
Minor Threat,
The Martian,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Joyce Sims,
Morten Harket,
Faust,
the Bar-Kays,
Brass Construction,
Agent Orange,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Henry Cow,
Eddi Front, Eddi Front, Eddi Front, Eddi Front.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.