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 Cambodia and from Glasgow.
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 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Toronto and Woodstock.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Taipei 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 1984 at the first Arcadia practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the clarinet 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 Scientists to the dance 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 Jawbox. All the underground hits.
All Bush Tetras tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Marine Girls 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 '50s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a 808 and a marimba and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Sister Nancy 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?
Malaria!,
The Knickerbockers,
Sonny Sharrock,
The Golliwogs,
Soul II Soul,
Prince Buster,
June Days,
D'Angelo,
KRS-One,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
Marshall Jefferson,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
Eric B and Rakim,
Country Teasers,
Aloha Tigers,
Ornette Coleman,
Suicide,
The Men They Couldn't Hang,
Ten City,
Major Organ And The Adding Machine,
Alice Coltrane,
Motorama,
Traffic Nightmare,
Chris Corsano,
The Gories,
The American Breed,
Terry Callier,
Alphaville,
Alton Ellis,
Infiniti,
Bluetip,
Ossler,
Scientists,
Funky Four + One,
Heaven 17,
Gichy Dan,
Rufus Thomas,
Scan 7,
Dual Sessions,
Theoretical Girls,
The Invisible,
Eli Mardock,
The Pop Group,
Kevin Saunderson,
The Kinks,
Ash Ra Tempel,
DJ Style,
The Stooges,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
Letta Mbulu,
Marvin Gaye,
The Last Poets,
The Wake,
The Sound,
Technova,
Lyres,
Jesper Dahlbäck,
The Doors,
Mission of Burma,
X-101,
Soulsonic Force,
Roxette,
June of 44, June of 44, June of 44, June of 44.
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.