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 Guinea-Bissau and from Tokyo.
But I was there.
I was there in 1983.
I was there at the first Bronski Beat show in Brixton.
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 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in London and Shanghai.
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 1975 at the first Ubu practice in a loft in Cleveland.
I was working on the clarinet sounds with much patience.
I was there when Lou Reed 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 Mission of Burma to the punk kids.
I played it at Cafe Wha.
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 Barbara Tucker. All the underground hits.
All Livin' Joy tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Residents record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rock 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 a chamberlin and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Scratch Acid record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a güiro.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Silicon Teens,
Tropical Tobacco,
Sam Rivers,
Graham Central Station,
Ituana,
Bang On A Can,
Barrington Levy,
Barry Ungar,
Thee Headcoats,
Drive Like Jehu,
John Cale,
Crooked Eye,
Mission of Burma,
Connie Case,
The Count Five,
Talk Talk,
Laurel Aitken,
Lucky Dragons,
Marshall Jefferson,
Fugazi,
Au Pairs,
Spandau Ballet,
Prince Buster,
Soul II Soul,
Cecil Taylor,
Buzzcocks,
Moss Icon,
the Germs,
Sight & Sound,
Goldenarms,
Godley & Creme,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
Carl Craig,
Robert Wyatt,
Bush Tetras,
Aloha Tigers,
David McCallum,
Bluetip,
The Durutti Column,
Sällskapet,
Howard Jones,
Fela Kuti,
John Foxx,
Flipper,
London Community Gospel Choir,
Throbbing Gristle,
Basic Channel,
Notorious Big And Bone Thugs,
Y Pants,
The Music Machine,
Sandy B,
Tim Buckley,
Marmalade,
Fear,
Avey Tare,
The Angels of Light,
Black Pus,
Alton Ellis,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
Shuggie Otis,
Black Moon,
Icehouse,
Charles Mingus,
Unwound, Unwound, Unwound, Unwound.
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.