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 Lebanon 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 1967 to 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in London and Houston.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Mumbai 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 1970 at the first Onyeabor practice in a loft in Enugu.
I was working on the linndrum sounds with much patience.
I was there when Donald Fagen 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 Gun Club to the dance kids.
I played it at the Spitz.
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 Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan. All the underground hits.
All the Human League tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Lou Reed & Metallica 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 '60s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a rhodes and an oboe and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Associates record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a chamberlin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Fuzztones,
Man Parrish,
Cecil Taylor,
Heaven 17,
Archie Shepp,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Matthew Halsall,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse,
Jeff Mills,
Kurtis Blow,
Altered Images,
Michelle Simonal,
The Busters,
Jerry Gold Smith,
Terror Squad Feat. Camron,
Goldenarms,
Cal Tjader,
Pharoah Sanders,
Simply Red,
Kenny Larkin,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
Yusef Lateef,
Das Ding,
Supertramp,
The Velvet Underground,
Bobby Sherman,
China Crisis,
Minnie Riperton,
Y Pants,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
B.T. Express,
Audionom,
Oppenheimer Analysis,
The Birthday Party,
Arab on Radar,
The Seeds,
The Raincoats,
Colin Newman,
Swans,
Technova,
Country Teasers,
Saccharine Trust,
Gerry Rafferty,
A Flock of Seagulls,
The Mojo Men,
The Cowsills,
Oblivians,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Slick Rick,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Lucky Dragons,
Electric Light Orchestra,
DJ Style,
Hoover,
Moby Grape,
Rosa Yemen,
The Invisible,
The Last Poets,
Eric Dolphy,
Eli Mardock,
Shuggie Otis, Shuggie Otis, Shuggie Otis, Shuggie Otis.
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.