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 Mozambique and from Johannesburg.
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 1963 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in New York and Cairo.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Beijing 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 Soft Boys practice in a loft in Cambridge.
I was working on the spring reverb 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 Moleskins to the dance 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 Joe Finger. All the underground hits.
All Nation of Ulysses tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Alton Ellis 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 clarinet and a snare and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Evens record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a marimba.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Chocolate Watch Band,
Subhumans,
Altered Images,
ABBA,
Guru Guru,
Lucky Dragons,
Tim Buckley,
Bill Wells,
Byron Stingily,
The Fugs,
Electric Light Orchestra,
The Mummies,
The Standells,
Ossler,
Agent Orange,
Connie Case,
The Cramps,
The Skatalites,
Sugar Minott,
Grauzone,
B.T. Express,
Ultramagnetic MC's,
Neu!,
Visage,
The Remains,
Toni Rubio,
The Zeros,
Eric Dolphy,
Moby Grape,
New York Dolls,
Lou Reed,
Patti Smith,
Dave Gahan,
The Dead C,
Monolake,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Mad Mike,
Ultra Naté,
Ituana,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
48th St. Collective,
Gang Green,
K-Klass,
F. McDonald,
Cameo,
The Red Krayola,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Ronnie Foster,
The Shadows of Knight,
Gerry Rafferty,
John Coltrane,
This Heat,
The Angels of Light,
Joy Division,
Dual Sessions,
Scientists,
Fat Boys,
Scratch Acid,
Frankie Knuckles,
Pylon,
The Pretty Things,
Simply Red, Simply Red, Simply Red, Simply Red.
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.