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 Malaysia and from Johannesburg.
But I was there.
I was there in 1970.
I was there at the first Onyeabor show in Enugu.
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 1968 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Manchester and Seoul.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Portland 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 clarinet sounds with much patience.
I was there when Captain Beefheart 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 Kool Moe Dee to the funk kids.
I played it at the 40 Watt.
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 T. Rex. All the underground hits.
All Gerry Rafferty tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Black Sheep record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grunge hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a snare and a theremin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Kayak record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought a marimba.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a sitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Tres Demented,
Fad Gadget,
The Fuzztones,
The Walker Brothers,
The Searchers,
Howard Jones,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Loose Ends,
Gang Gang Dance,
Kenny Larkin,
Bauhaus,
Khruangbin,
Bill Near,
Jesper Dahlback,
Deadbeat,
the Swans,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
Man Eating Sloth,
Peter and Kerry,
10cc,
The Skatalites,
Joe Finger,
The Red Krayola,
Section 25,
Lower 48,
Bobby Hutcherson,
In Retrospect,
Laurel Aitken,
Wasted Youth,
Vladislav Delay,
John Foxx,
Shuggie Otis,
The Electric Prunes,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
The Chocolate Watch Band,
Scion,
Trumans Water,
Television Personalities,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Rapeman,
Ronan,
Harpers Bizarre,
Nation of Ulysses,
Agent Orange,
Sugar Minott,
Godley & Creme,
Delta 5,
8 Eyed Spy,
Lalo Schifrin,
The Sound,
Connie Case,
Bootsy's Rubber Band,
the Normal,
Mo-Dettes,
Pulsallama,
Newcleus,
Television,
Charles Mingus,
Easy Going,
The Fire Engines,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
James White and The Blacks,
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282,
The Grass Roots, The Grass Roots, The Grass Roots, The Grass Roots.
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.