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 Guyana 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 1965 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Accra and Manila.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Tehran 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 harpsichord 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 Radiohead to the techno kids.
I played it at the Hacienda.
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 Joey Negro. All the underground hits.
All Saccharine Trust tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Radiohead 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 '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a mellotron and a linndrum and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Young Marble Giants record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a harpsichord.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Joe Smooth,
The Vogues,
Schoolly D,
Bizarre Inc.,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Andrew Hill,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
John Cale,
Drive Like Jehu,
Radiohead,
Slave,
Ronnie Foster,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
MC5,
Larry & the Blue Notes,
Camouflage,
Eric B and Rakim,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Stereo Dub,
Terror Squad Feat. Camron,
Vainqueur,
The Flesh Eaters,
Basic Channel,
Bronski Beat,
Ralphi Rosario,
Technova,
The Birthday Party,
The Doors,
The Star Department,
Tropical Tobacco,
The Busters,
Lucky Dragons,
La Düsseldorf,
Rosa Yemen,
Siglo XX,
Nirvana,
Minutemen,
Pylon,
Metal Thangz,
Joensuu 1685,
Dorothy Ashby,
The Chocolate Watch Band,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Mad Mike,
Ohio Players,
The Stooges,
Dark Day,
Sarah Menescal,
Animal Collective,
Beasts of Bourbon,
Jeru the Damaja,
Buzzcocks,
Country Teasers,
New Age Steppers,
Tommy Roe,
The Beau Brummels,
The Moleskins,
Lungfish,
The Moody Blues,
Yazoo,
Arab on Radar, Arab on Radar, Arab on Radar, Arab on Radar.
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.