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 Burundi and from Johannesburg.
But I was there.
I was there in 1979.
I was there at the first Second Layer show in South London.
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 1966 to 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Calgary and Woodstock.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Bremen 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 chamberlin sounds with much patience.
I was there when Tom Verlaine 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 Lindisfarne to the grime 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 Moby Grape. All the underground hits.
All The Mojo Men tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Los Fastidios record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grime 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 rhodes and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a ABBA record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin 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 Offenders,
Make Up,
The Gap Band,
Radio Birdman,
The Mighty Diamonds,
The Grass Roots,
Terrestrial Tones,
Gabor Szabo,
Camberwell Now,
Joy Division,
New York Dolls,
Pierre Henry,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Susan Cadogan,
The Busters,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Bang On A Can,
Jimmy McGriff,
Bobby Hutcherson,
Essential Logic,
Groovy Waters,
Dorothy Ashby,
Tropical Tobacco,
Model 500,
Accadde A,
Donald Byrd,
Black Moon,
Lou Christie,
Yusef Lateef,
Peter and Kerry,
Barclay James Harvest,
Angry Samoans,
Amazonics,
Unwound,
Fifty Foot Hose,
Bill Wells,
Hardrive,
the Fania All-Stars,
Rufus Thomas,
Traffic Nightmare,
Sarah Menescal,
Cybotron,
X-Ray Spex,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Bobbi Humphrey,
Lebanon Hanover,
Malaria!,
Parry Music,
the Germs,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
David Bowie,
Ash Ra Tempel,
8 Eyed Spy,
Cal Tjader,
Jeff Mills,
Robert Görl,
E-Dancer,
Blossom Toes,
Gong,
Davy DMX,
The Dave Clark Five,
Gian Franco Pienzio,
New Order,
48th St. Collective,
Von Mondo, Von Mondo, Von Mondo, Von Mondo.
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.