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 Libya and from Hong Kong.
But I was there.
I was there in 1976.
I was there at the first Soft Boys show in Cambridge.
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 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Jakarta and Accra.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Tehran 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 oboe sounds with much patience.
I was there when Lou Reed 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 Tim Buckley to the rock 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 Arthur Verocai. All the underground hits.
All Pulsallama tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Oneida 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 '50s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a clarinet and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a David Bowie record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought a harpsichord.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a sitar.
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 Gun Club,
Pierre Henry,
D'Angelo,
Chris & Cosey,
Andrew Hill,
Crispian St. Peters,
David Axelrod,
Delta 5,
Public Image Ltd.,
The American Breed,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
The Mojo Men,
Avey Tare,
Black Sheep,
U.S. Maple,
Pylon,
Simply Red,
Patti Smith,
Crash Course in Science,
Ronnie Foster,
The United States of America,
China Crisis,
Ice-T,
Archie Shepp,
Cal Tjader,
Anakelly,
The Busters,
Mo-Dettes,
The Slits,
The Young Rascals,
The Velvet Underground,
Wolf Eyes,
Deakin,
Harmonia,
Junior Murvin,
Yusef Lateef,
Frankie Knuckles,
The Skatalites,
Thee Headcoats,
Grey Daturas,
Jesper Dahlback,
T.S.O.L.,
The Electric Prunes,
Parry Music,
Chrome,
Deepchord,
Tres Demented,
Masters at Work,
Sight & Sound,
Fatback Band,
Fifty Foot Hose,
Magma,
The Associates,
Soul Sonic Force,
Cecil Taylor,
Malaria!,
Quando Quango,
The Dead C,
Barry Ungar,
Eric Copeland, Eric Copeland, Eric Copeland, Eric Copeland.
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.