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 Suriname and from Jakarta.
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 1964 to 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Salvador and Manila.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Bologna 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 1976 at the first Soft Boys practice in a loft in Cambridge.
I was working on the spring reverb 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 Unwound to the jazz kids.
I played it at Trash.
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 Jimmy McGriff. All the underground hits.
All The Shadows of Knight tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Q65 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 clarinet and a sitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Minnie Riperton record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a 808.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Selecter,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
Stetsasonic,
FM Einheit,
Ronnie Foster,
Carl Craig,
Gang Gang Dance,
T.S.O.L.,
Black Flag,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Sun City Girls,
Unrelated Segments,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Barry Ungar,
Roy Ayers,
Bang On A Can,
Vainqueur,
Dual Sessions,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
Guru Guru,
The Cowsills,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
Don Cherry,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
The Index,
Wire,
Easy Going,
X-102,
Judy Mowatt,
The Sonics,
Eddi Front,
June of 44,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
Tres Demented,
the Normal,
Roger Hodgson,
Gabor Szabo,
Television,
Nirvana,
Motorama,
The Human League,
Gong,
Main Source,
Spandau Ballet,
David McCallum,
Steve Hackett,
Schoolly D,
JFA,
Skaos,
Freddie Wadling,
Bill Near,
The Divine Comedy,
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282,
Marmalade,
Cal Tjader,
David Axelrod,
Mantronix,
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
Lou Reed,
Inner City, Inner City, Inner City, Inner City.
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.