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 Liberia and from Bologna.
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 1964 to 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Spokane and Paris.
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 1983 at the first Art of Noise practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the theremin 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 Electric Light Orchestra to the electroclash 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 The Mighty Diamonds. All the underground hits.
All U.S. Maple tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Idris Muhammad 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 '70s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a chamberlin and a mellotron and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Eric B and Rakim record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a rhodes.
I hear that you and your band have sold your rhodes and bought a marimba.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
James White and The Blacks,
Ultimate Spinach,
Marmalade,
Sällskapet,
Lightning Bolt,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
Ohio Players,
Deadbeat,
Derrick Morgan,
The Toasters,
Kaleidoscope,
Flipper,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
Sugar Minott,
Joensuu 1685,
The Cure,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
David Bowie,
Lou Reed,
the Human League,
Audionom,
London Community Gospel Choir,
Radiohead,
Sticky Fingaz feat. Raekwon,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Skarface,
Altered Images,
Black Bananas,
The Doobie Brothers,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
Darondo,
David McCallum,
Stetsasonic,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Accadde A,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
Unwound,
Barry Ungar,
Josef K,
Gichy Dan,
ABBA,
K-Klass,
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
Cabaret Voltaire,
DJ Sneak,
Art Ensemble Of Chicago,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
Icehouse,
Andrew Hill,
Marcia Griffiths,
Scratch Acid,
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band,
Grauzone,
Inner City,
DNA,
Funky Four + One,
Slick Rick,
Rosa Yemen,
the Association,
Second Layer,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Black Flag, Black Flag, Black Flag, Black Flag.
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.