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 San Marino and from Tehran.
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 1966 to 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Seoul 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 1967 at the first Rodriguez practice in a loft in Detroit.
I was working on the clarinet sounds with much patience.
I was there when David Bowie 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 the Bar-Kays to the dance kids.
I played it at CBGB's.
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 Alton Ellis. All the underground hits.
All Maurizio tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Roy Ayers Ubiquity 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 '50s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a synthesizer and an oboe and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Max Romeo record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a 808.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
Porter Ricks,
Iggy Pop,
Crispian St. Peters,
Nas,
Babytalk,
Glenn Branca,
the Sonics,
Johnny Osbourne,
Drive Like Jehu,
U.S. Maple,
Morten Harket,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Joey Negro,
Swell Maps,
The Pretty Things,
Kerri Chandler,
8 Eyed Spy,
The Happenings,
Kaleidoscope,
Parry Music,
Scion,
The Flesh Eaters,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Scott Walker + Sunn O))),
the Germs,
Niagra,
X-102,
Vainqueur,
Royal Trux,
Mo-Dettes,
Cheater Slicks,
Ultravox,
Archie Shepp,
Yaz,
The Names,
Lizzy Mercier Descloux,
Ornette Coleman,
Ultimate Spinach,
Joy Division,
Magma,
Thompson Twins,
Second Layer,
Tommy Roe,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
Kerrie Biddell,
The Gun Club,
Siglo XX,
Eden Ahbez,
KRS-One,
Little Man,
Bill Wells,
Chris & Cosey,
Lucky Dragons,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
The Slits,
Arab on Radar,
The Shadows of Knight,
Yellowson,
The Fugs,
Jeff Mills,
Derrick May,
The Knickerbockers,
The Motions, The Motions, The Motions, The Motions.
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.