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 St Lucia and from Seoul.
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 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Accra and Philadelphia.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Taipei 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 Wire practice in a loft in Watford.
I was working on the marimba 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 Nils Olav to the punk 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 Y Pants. All the underground hits.
All Bronski Beat tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Jacob Miller record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal disco hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a spring reverb and a rhodes and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Be Bop Deluxe record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a linndrum.
I hear that you and your band have sold your linndrum and bought a guitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
John Lydon,
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282,
The Fuzztones,
Prince Buster,
Bad Manners,
Jacob Miller,
Nas,
Gang of Four,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Letta Mbulu,
Terry Callier,
Judy Mowatt,
Archie Shepp,
Mantronix,
Country Teasers,
Saccharine Trust,
Lindisfarne,
Goldenarms,
Fat Boys,
The Fall,
Sarah Menescal,
The Black Dice,
Lou Reed,
Gabor Szabo,
The Fire Engines,
U.S. Maple,
Minnie Riperton,
Minutemen,
Mary Jane Girls,
The Velvet Underground,
Cecil Taylor,
Steve Hackett,
Bobby Sherman,
The Gories,
The Cowsills,
Model 500,
Gang Starr,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Eric Dolphy,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Scratch Acid,
New Age Steppers,
Tommy Roe,
Nirvana,
Newcleus,
Animal Collective,
Interpol,
Joensuu 1685,
Boz Scaggs,
Kings Of Tomorrow,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
The Young Rascals,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Desert Stars,
Liliput,
Terror Squad Feat. Camron,
Technova,
Art Ensemble Of Chicago,
Sällskapet,
8 Eyed Spy, 8 Eyed Spy, 8 Eyed Spy, 8 Eyed Spy.
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.