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 Kenya and from Spokane.
But I was there.
I was there in 1983.
I was there at the first Lewis show in Vancouver.
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 1969 to 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Johannesburg and Delhi.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Manchester 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 spring reverb sounds with much patience.
I was there when Lou Reed 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 Shadows of Knight to the electroclash 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 Crispian St. Peters. All the underground hits.
All Sad Lovers and Giants tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Bill Wells record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal disco 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 a clarinet and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Terry Callier record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a spring reverb.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought a harpsichord.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Mad Mike,
Funkadelic,
Vladislav Delay,
Gichy Dan,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
Barry Ungar,
Pet Shop Boys,
MC5,
Curtis Mayfield,
Byron Stingily,
Barrington Levy,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Erasure,
Electric Light Orchestra,
Grey Daturas,
Andrew Hill,
Youth Brigade,
Lee Hazlewood,
Brand Nubian,
Underground Resistance,
PIL,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
The Detroit Cobras,
Mantronix,
The United States of America,
Parry Music,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Fugazi,
Jandek,
Soul II Soul,
Schoolly D,
Ponytail,
The Wake,
Man Eating Sloth,
Khruangbin,
Major Organ And The Adding Machine,
Qualms,
Lebanon Hanover,
The Velvet Underground,
Moss Icon,
Michelle Simonal,
Skaos,
Suburban Knight,
Scott Walker,
Bizarre Inc.,
Eric Dolphy,
The Neon Judgement,
Amon Düül II,
The Real Kids,
The Motions,
Public Enemy,
Stereo Dub,
Bootsy Collins,
Jawbox,
Neu!,
Flamin' Groovies,
The Techniques,
the Swans,
Marcia Griffiths,
Barbara Tucker,
Wolf Eyes,
Dorothy Ashby, Dorothy Ashby, Dorothy Ashby, Dorothy Ashby.
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.