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 Uganda and from Manila.
But I was there.
I was there in 1968.
I was there at the first Bowie show in Bromley.
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 1964 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Salvador and Johannesburg.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Spokane 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 sitar 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 Erykah Badu to the punk kids.
I played it at the Astoria.
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 Soul Sonic Force. All the underground hits.
All Basic Channel tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Men They Couldn't Hang 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 '80s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a clarinet and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a New York Dolls record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a theremin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Birthday Party,
David Axelrod,
Brick,
Television Personalities,
Juan Atkins,
E-Dancer,
Bootsy's Rubber Band,
Soulsonic Force,
Roy Ayers,
Idris Muhammad,
Scrapy,
Adolescents,
The Fugs,
Sandy B,
One Last Wish,
Bobby Byrd,
Avey Tare,
10cc,
The J.B.'s,
Rekid,
Moebius,
Surgeon,
Monolake,
Panda Bear,
Stereo Dub,
The Gladiators,
Marshall Jefferson,
Prince Buster,
June of 44,
The Sisters of Mercy,
The Detroit Cobras,
Notorious Big And Bone Thugs,
Fort Wilson Riot,
Mo-Dettes,
Qualms,
Crime,
The Remains,
Rosa Yemen,
Carl Craig,
Gian Franco Pienzio,
Moby Grape,
Swell Maps,
The Moleskins,
Colin Newman,
Bang On A Can,
Patti Smith,
Frankie Knuckles,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Sound Behaviour,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Minnie Riperton,
Pierre Henry,
KRS-One,
Rapeman,
Lungfish,
The Victims,
Andrew Hill,
Eli Mardock,
Sarah Menescal,
The Evens,
Lebanon Hanover,
Moss Icon,
Mark Hollis,
Subhumans, Subhumans, Subhumans, Subhumans.
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.