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 Samoa and from Columbus.
But I was there.
I was there in 1983.
I was there at the first Lewis show in Vancouver.
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 1964 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Accra and Spokane.
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 1983 at the first Bronski Beat practice in a loft in Brixton.
I was working on the synthesizer sounds with much patience.
I was there when David Bowie 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 Pet Shop Boys to the electroclash kids.
I played it at Cafe Wha.
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 Patti Smith. All the underground hits.
All Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Electric Light Orchestra record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal punk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a 808 and an oboe and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Alison Limerick record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a snare.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Shadows of Knight,
Kool Moe Dee,
Bang On A Can,
Crime,
Jesper Dahlback,
Swell Maps,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
Mandrill,
World's Most,
The Red Krayola,
Terrestrial Tones,
Harpers Bizarre,
Barclay James Harvest,
Liliput,
Barrington Levy,
Shuggie Otis,
Magazine,
The Pop Group,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
The Wake,
Heaven 17,
Johnny Osbourne,
Michelle Simonal,
Animal Collective,
Kerrie Biddell,
Metal Thangz,
In Retrospect,
ABBA,
Marshall Jefferson,
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
MC5,
Aural Exciters,
Howard Jones,
Goldenarms,
Eric B and Rakim,
The Last Poets,
cv313,
Gong,
Arthur Verocai,
Ronan,
Joe Finger,
the Normal,
Ludus,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
Section 25,
Susan Cadogan,
Lebanon Hanover,
Basic Channel,
Das Ding,
Beasts of Bourbon,
The Pretty Things,
T. Rex,
Youth Brigade,
Bobby Womack,
Altered Images,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
Delon & Dalcan,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
The Alarm Clocks,
New Order,
Popol Vuh,
Q and Not U,
The Busters, The Busters, The Busters, The Busters.
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.