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 Benin and from Shanghai.
But I was there.
I was there in 1971.
I was there at the first Big Star show in Memphis.
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 1962 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Copenhagen and Jakarta.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school New York 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 synthesizer 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 Scott Walker to the rock 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 Boredoms. All the underground hits.
All The Fuzztones tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Marcia Griffiths record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal jazz 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 an oboe and a clarinet and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Cramps record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a theremin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Cabaret Voltaire,
Pantaleimon,
Arthur Verocai,
Albert Ayler,
The Gun Club,
Pulsallama,
Ralphi Rosario,
Thompson Twins,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
Marine Girls,
Lalann,
Animal Collective,
The United States of America,
Outsiders,
Duran Duran,
Boz Scaggs,
Tubeway Army,
Sonic Youth,
Byron Stingily,
Leonard Cohen,
Roxy Music,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
The Beau Brummels,
Archie Shepp,
Niagra,
Lyres,
Ultra Naté,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Nik Kershaw,
JFA,
Kas Product,
The Invisible,
Ituana,
Jesper Dahlbäck,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
Throbbing Gristle,
Deadbeat,
Subhumans,
LL Cool J,
Ultravox,
The Star Department,
Marvin Gaye,
Loose Ends,
Andrew Hill,
Gil Scott Heron,
Q65,
X-Ray Spex,
The Sisters of Mercy,
The Count Five,
Radio Birdman,
The Angels of Light,
Pierre Henry,
A Certain Ratio,
Technova,
Marcia Griffiths,
Los Fastidios,
Don Cherry,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
Harmonia,
Khruangbin,
Ohio Players,
The Grass Roots,
David Bowie, David Bowie, David Bowie, David Bowie.
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.