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 Grenada and from Stockholm.
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 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Seoul and Tehran.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Johannesburg 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 1967 at the first Rodriguez practice in a loft in Detroit.
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 Quando Quango to the rock 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 Slave. All the underground hits.
All Angels of Light & Akron/Family tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Lucky Dragons 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 '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a snare and a clarinet and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a EPMD record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a güiro.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a guitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Colin Newman,
Mantronix,
Underground Resistance,
Cameo,
Terry Callier,
Sugar Minott,
Alison Limerick,
Sandy B,
T.S.O.L.,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
Swell Maps,
Pole,
Traffic Nightmare,
Parry Music,
Godley & Creme,
The Standells,
Piero Umiliani,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Stereo Dub,
Reuben Wilson,
Ice-T,
Bizarre Inc.,
Lakeside,
The Birthday Party,
Iggy Pop,
Vainqueur,
Deepchord,
Desert Stars,
Darondo,
Motorama,
Eric Dolphy,
DNA,
Main Source,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
The Wake,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Black Flag,
Hoover,
Gregory Isaacs,
The American Breed,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
48th St. Collective,
The Monks,
Joe Finger,
Stockholm Monsters,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
Lower 48,
Drive Like Jehu,
Tres Demented,
Camron Feat. Memphis Bleek And Beenie Seigel,
Robert Görl,
Fear,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Cymande,
Tommy Roe,
The Dirtbombs,
The Sisters of Mercy,
The Shadows of Knight,
Crooked Eye,
Dark Day,
Bobby Hutcherson,
the Association,
Howard Jones, Howard Jones, Howard Jones, Howard Jones.
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.