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 Uganda and from Manchester.
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 1960 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Taipei and Toronto.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lagos 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 1971 at the first Neu! practice in a loft in Düsseldorf.
I was working on the harpsichord 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 The Blues Magoos to the dance kids.
I played it at the Crocodile.
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 Brick. All the underground hits.
All Anthony Braxton tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Matthew Halsall record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal disco hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a sitar and a chamberlin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Wally Richardson record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Zero Boys,
Man Parrish,
Fatback Band,
Country Teasers,
The Cramps,
Laurel Aitken,
Bob Dylan,
Crispian St. Peters,
Cameo,
the Slits,
Eric B and Rakim,
Erykah Badu,
Kenny Larkin,
the Swans,
Aaron Thompson,
This Heat,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
The Motions,
Flipper,
Depeche Mode,
Nico,
The Sonics,
The Busters,
John Holt,
Dead Boys,
Crime,
Mr. Review,
The Shadows of Knight,
Throbbing Gristle,
a-ha,
Stiv Bators,
Neu!,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Outsiders,
Das Ding,
Magazine,
Jacob Miller,
The Monks,
The Smiths,
Lou Christie,
Marc Almond,
Sound Behaviour,
Black Moon,
Bobbi Humphrey,
Wally Richardson,
FM Einheit,
Angry Samoans,
D'Angelo,
Buzzcocks,
Major Organ And The Adding Machine,
Arcadia,
the Human League,
Joensuu 1685,
Isaac Hayes,
Grauzone,
Boogie Down Productions,
Marcia Griffiths,
The Cure,
Electric Prunes,
Kas Product,
Qualms,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
X-Ray Spex, X-Ray Spex, X-Ray Spex, X-Ray Spex.
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.