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 Tehran.
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 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Beijing and Glasgow.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Shanghai 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 1968 at the first Bowie practice in a loft in Bromley.
I was working on the güiro sounds with much patience.
I was there when Nile Rodgers 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 Max Romeo to the grime kids.
I played it at the Roxy.
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 the Normal. All the underground hits.
All Sun Ra Arkestra tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Searchers record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal dance hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a clarinet and a mellotron and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Joe Smooth record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a chamberlin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin 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 J.B.'s,
the Slits,
The Skatalites,
Godley & Creme,
The Fall,
Althea and Donna,
Monolake,
Ohio Players,
Loose Ends,
Deakin,
Spandau Ballet,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
the Human League,
Patti Smith,
The Happenings,
Interpol,
The Gladiators,
Black Sheep,
Moss Icon,
The Dirtbombs,
Unrelated Segments,
Bill Near,
Fort Wilson Riot,
Mars,
A Flock of Seagulls,
Eric Copeland,
These Immortal Souls,
Bluetip,
Matthew Halsall,
Jeff Mills,
Saccharine Trust,
Idris Muhammad,
Bob Dylan,
Reagan Youth,
The Velvet Underground,
Barclay James Harvest,
Second Layer,
The Smoke,
Chris & Cosey,
Isaac Hayes,
Sun Ra,
Sight & Sound,
Archie Shepp,
Wasted Youth,
Basic Channel,
Peter and Kerry,
LL Cool J,
Das Ding,
Babytalk,
La Düsseldorf,
Radio Birdman,
Scratch Acid,
Camouflage,
Marcia Griffiths,
Rod Modell,
Lalann,
Darondo,
Mission of Burma,
Bobby Womack,
Y Pants,
World's Most,
Bush Tetras,
Fluxion,
John Holt,
The Searchers, The Searchers, The Searchers, The Searchers.
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.