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 Bangladesh and from New York.
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 1962 to 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Glasgow and Madrid.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Milan 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 1973 at the first Television practice in a loft in New York.
I was working on the clarinet sounds with much patience.
I was there when Michael McDonald 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 James White and The Blacks to the electroclash 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 Hasil Adkins. All the underground hits.
All Ponytail tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Cecil Taylor record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rap hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a theremin and a harpsichord and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Kerri Chandler record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought an oboe.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a synthesizer.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Jerry's Kids,
Scratch Acid,
Archie Shepp,
Isaac Hayes,
Oblivians,
Schoolly D,
Kaleidoscope,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
Joy Division,
Fifty Foot Hose,
Al Stewart,
Slave,
Cymande,
K-Klass,
Robert Wyatt,
Duran Duran,
The Buckinghams,
Parry Music,
Grey Daturas,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Tomorrow,
The Tremeloes,
Piero Umiliani,
In Retrospect,
Joyce Sims,
Heaven 17,
Depeche Mode,
ABBA,
Prince Buster,
Jandek,
Erykah Badu,
Ajijia Myrayebe,
Agent Orange,
Nico,
Little Man,
The Birthday Party,
Crispian St. Peters,
the Sonics,
Soulsonic Force,
Public Image Ltd.,
MDC,
Lee Hazlewood,
Ten City,
Eli Mardock,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
Fatback Band,
Livin' Joy,
Deakin,
Mark Hollis,
Stereo Dub,
Bob Dylan,
Symarip,
Soul II Soul,
Grandmaster Flash,
World's Most,
Anakelly,
ABC,
Donald Byrd,
Scan 7,
Siglo XX,
Talk Talk,
The Men They Couldn't Hang,
Cecil Taylor, Cecil Taylor, Cecil Taylor, Cecil Taylor.
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.