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 Guinea-Bissau and from Salvador.
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 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Johannesburg and Mumbai.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Paris 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 1967 at the first Rodriguez practice in a loft in Detroit.
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 Moebius to the rock kids.
I played it at the Astoria.
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 Count Five. All the underground hits.
All Ken Boothe tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every MC5 record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal techno 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 theremin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Mark Hollis record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a synthesizer.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a harpsichord.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
A Certain Ratio,
Stockholm Monsters,
Erykah Badu,
Sam Rivers,
The Knickerbockers,
Yusef Lateef,
Eric Copeland,
Girls At Our Best!,
Grey Daturas,
Circle Jerks,
Yazoo,
Roxy Music,
Roy Ayers,
Chris Corsano,
Delon & Dalcan,
The Slackers,
The Walker Brothers,
Nick Fraelich,
The Pretty Things,
Cameo,
Be Bop Deluxe,
Jawbox,
Matthew Halsall,
Mars,
Trumans Water,
Hoover,
E-Dancer,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Delta 5,
Talk Talk,
Eddi Front,
Nils Olav,
The Gladiators,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
Cecil Taylor,
The Skatalites,
DJ Style,
Dual Sessions,
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
Y Pants,
Slick Rick,
Metal Thangz,
John Coltrane,
Rapeman,
Lebanon Hanover,
Groovy Waters,
The Stooges,
Johnny Clarke,
Scan 7,
Minnie Riperton,
Ralphi Rosario,
Banda Bassotti,
Camouflage,
Fela Kuti,
Brand Nubian,
Soft Machine,
The Slits,
Pierre Henry,
Ronan,
Rotary Connection,
The Index,
KRS-One, KRS-One, KRS-One, KRS-One.
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.