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 Yemen and from Shanghai.
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 Calgary and Woodstock.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Accra 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 1984 at the first Arcadia practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the marimba sounds with much patience.
I was there when Donald Fagen 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 Sun Ra Arkestra to the rock kids.
I played it at the 40 Watt.
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 Big Daddy Kane. All the underground hits.
All Lou Christie tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Boogie Down Productions record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal techno hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a 808 and a clarinet and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Popol Vuh record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a 808.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought an oboe.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Beau Brummels,
Gregory Isaacs,
Thee Headcoats,
Eric B and Rakim,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
Juan Atkins,
The Birthday Party,
Heaven 17,
Cheater Slicks,
Cybotron,
Gang Green,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
KRS-One,
CMW,
Fatback Band,
Dark Day,
Hardrive,
Ken Boothe,
EPMD,
La Düsseldorf,
Ituana,
Dual Sessions,
The Residents,
Big Daddy Kane,
The Seeds,
The New Christs,
Yusef Lateef,
Kenny Larkin,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
Danielle Patucci,
The Durutti Column,
Matthew Bourne,
Jandek,
Godley & Creme,
Fugazi,
K-Klass,
The American Breed,
The Mummies,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Darondo,
The Misunderstood,
Be Bop Deluxe,
Max Romeo,
Bush Tetras,
The Cowsills,
Cymande,
Letta Mbulu,
Todd Terry,
Marshall Jefferson,
Laurel Aitken,
Whodini,
Oppenheimer Analysis,
Fad Gadget,
In Retrospect,
Warren Ellis,
One Last Wish,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Sam Rivers,
The Smiths,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
U.S. Maple,
The Standells, The Standells, The Standells, The Standells.
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.