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 Monaco and from Stockholm.
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 1961 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Winnipeg and Glasgow.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Hong Kong 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 1971 at the first Selda practice in a loft in Istanbul.
I was working on the theremin sounds with much patience.
I was there when Robert Palmer 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 Bang on a Can All-Stars to the grime kids.
I played it at the Hacienda.
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 Bush Tetras. All the underground hits.
All ABC tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Sällskapet record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rap hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a harpsichord and a linndrum and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Y Pants record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought an oboe.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Siglo XX,
The Golliwogs,
Letta Mbulu,
Gerry Rafferty,
Avey Tare,
Prince Buster,
Reuben Wilson,
Drive Like Jehu,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Camberwell Now,
Pere Ubu,
The Cowsills,
Minutemen,
Magazine,
The Pop Group,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
Bronski Beat,
Slick Rick,
Sister Nancy,
Kings Of Tomorrow,
Judy Mowatt,
Chris & Cosey,
The Walker Brothers,
Los Fastidios,
Man Parrish,
Livin' Joy,
Marmalade,
The Index,
Public Image Ltd.,
Spoonie Gee,
Todd Rundgren,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Spandau Ballet,
Gang Gang Dance,
Glenn Branca,
DJ Sneak,
Reagan Youth,
Moss Icon,
Cameo,
Joy Division,
Radiopuhelimet,
Simply Red,
The Toasters,
Leonard Cohen,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Silicon Teens,
Lightning Bolt,
Ronan,
Nik Kershaw,
Negative Approach,
The Blackbyrds,
Sly & The Family Stone,
Alice Coltrane,
Y Pants,
Kaleidoscope,
Pylon,
The Fall,
Dawn Penn,
Derrick May,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Audionom,
The Slits,
Banda Bassotti, Banda Bassotti, Banda Bassotti, Banda Bassotti.
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.