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 Papua New Guinea and from Tehran.
But I was there.
I was there in 1970.
I was there at the first Onyeabor show in Enugu.
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 1968 to 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Woodstock and Glasgow.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Manchester 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 mellotron sounds with much patience.
I was there when Nile Rodgers 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 Eli Mardock to the rap kids.
I played it at the Astoria.
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 New Order. All the underground hits.
All Kango’s Stein Massive tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Trojans record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal electroclash hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying an arpeggiator and an organ and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Camouflage record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Amazonics,
Average White Band,
Todd Terry,
Franke,
PIL,
Subhumans,
Hot Snakes,
Wings,
Sun Ra,
Cal Tjader,
The Offenders,
Joy Division,
Man Eating Sloth,
Max Romeo,
Jandek,
Dual Sessions,
Joe Finger,
Isaac Hayes,
Amon Düül II,
The Gories,
Mad Mike,
Bluetip,
Grey Daturas,
Erasure,
DeepChord presents Echospace,
Ultimate Spinach,
The Music Machine,
Bush Tetras,
Jimmy McGriff,
John Holt,
Quantec,
Lightning Bolt,
The Smoke,
Archie Shepp,
Scratch Acid,
Alison Limerick,
Michelle Simonal,
Bang On A Can,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
Depeche Mode,
Unwound,
The Misunderstood,
Gil Scott Heron,
Yusef Lateef,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
Negative Approach,
Talk Talk,
Glambeats Corp.,
Supertramp,
Kerri Chandler,
Con Funk Shun,
Throbbing Gristle,
The Blackbyrds,
Girls At Our Best!,
Ituana,
Black Moon,
The Gap Band,
Barclay James Harvest,
Kurtis Blow,
Mary Jane Girls,
June Days,
Scott Walker,
Eli Mardock, Eli Mardock, Eli Mardock, Eli Mardock.
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.