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 France 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 1967 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Jakarta and Madrid.
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 1976 at the first Buzzcocks practice in a loft in Bolton.
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 Matthew Halsall to the rap kids.
I played it at Cafe Wha.
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 Symarip. All the underground hits.
All The Dead C tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every R.M.O. record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal funk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '90s.
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 The Star Department record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a rhodes.
I hear that you and your band have sold your rhodes and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Pierre Henry,
Sun Ra,
Dawn Penn,
Pole,
Godley & Creme,
Grandmaster Flash,
Country Joe & The Fish,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Sixth Finger,
Nas,
Pagans,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
Groovy Waters,
Saccharine Trust,
The Pretty Things,
T. Rex,
Andrew Hill,
Bronski Beat,
The Raincoats,
Duran Duran,
Sex Pistols,
Sällskapet,
Man Parrish,
The Electric Prunes,
Smog,
John Holt,
Drexciya,
The Mojo Men,
Section 25,
Harpers Bizarre,
Gregory Isaacs,
Cal Tjader,
FM Einheit,
The Moody Blues,
Piero Umiliani,
Agent Orange,
K-Klass,
Moss Icon,
London Community Gospel Choir,
The Young Rascals,
The Smiths,
Bizarre Inc.,
Ash Ra Tempel,
Gang of Four,
The American Breed,
Audionom,
Stetsasonic,
Delta 5,
Chrome,
Amon Düül II,
The Cure,
Model 500,
John Cale,
Frankie Knuckles,
PIL,
Funky Four + One,
The Dirtbombs,
Cameo,
Terror Squad Feat. Camron,
Intrusion,
Popol Vuh,
Barry Ungar,
Young Marble Giants, Young Marble Giants, Young Marble Giants, Young Marble Giants.
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.