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 Thailand and from Cairo.
But I was there.
I was there in 1962.
I was there at the first Guess Who show in Winnipeg.
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 1963 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Seoul and Sao Paulo.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lagos 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 guitar 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 Lakeside to the dance 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 Mary Jane Girls. All the underground hits.
All Pere Ubu tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Rhythim Is Rhythim 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 '80s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a harpsichord and a spring reverb and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Fela Kuti record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a rhodes.
I hear that you and your band have sold your rhodes and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Gang Green,
Brothers Johnson,
Scratch Acid,
Brand Nubian,
New Order,
Young Marble Giants,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Gregory Isaacs,
Bluetip,
The Dead C,
The Sonics,
The Blues Magoos,
Super Lover Cee & Casanova Rud,
The Techniques,
B.T. Express,
Blancmange,
Fort Wilson Riot,
Marmalade,
Bob Dylan,
Au Pairs,
Tears for Fears,
Babytalk,
OOIOO,
Subhumans,
Ultimate Spinach,
World's Most,
Soul Sonic Force,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Mandrill,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Sunsets and Hearts,
The Last Poets,
Fela Kuti,
Simply Red,
Zapp,
The Dirtbombs,
La Düsseldorf,
the Normal,
Pharoah Sanders,
Echospace,
Unwound,
Scrapy,
Peter and Kerry,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
Flash Fearless,
Matthew Halsall,
Janne Schatter,
Q and Not U,
Black Flag,
Shuggie Otis,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Supertramp,
Drexciya,
Spoonie Gee,
The Litter,
New York Dolls,
Depeche Mode,
Can,
Henry Cow,
Cameo, Cameo, Cameo, Cameo.
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.