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 Venezuela and from Jakarta.
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 1961 to 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Seoul and Delhi.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Delhi 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 1968 at the first Bowie practice in a loft in Bromley.
I was working on the oboe sounds with much patience.
I was there when Captain Beefheart 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 Trumans Water to the disco kids.
I played it at Trash.
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 Sun City Girls. All the underground hits.
All Howard Jones tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Minny Pops 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 '50s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a snare and a rhodes and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Vaughan Mason & Crew record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a marimba.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a güiro.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Archie Shepp,
Bootsy's Rubber Band,
Marvin Gaye,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
Procol Harum,
Darondo,
The Fortunes,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Kayak,
Banda Bassotti,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
Q65,
Scan 7,
Ronnie Foster,
Anthony Braxton,
Drive Like Jehu,
The Alarm Clocks,
Ultravox,
Beasts of Bourbon,
Mars,
Juan Atkins,
the Slits,
Fela Kuti,
Altered Images,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
Nas,
Bobby Sherman,
Derrick May,
Ludus,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
The Searchers,
Piero Umiliani,
Jacob Miller,
Joe Smooth,
Coldchain, Rosco P., Featuring Pusha T from Clipse & Boo-Bonic,
The Fire Engines,
Yellowson,
Visionaries,LMNO, T- Love & Iriscience,
The Five Americans,
Buzzcocks,
Tres Demented,
Roger Hodgson,
Joy Division,
Prince Buster,
Spoonie Gee,
Marcia Griffiths,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Porter Ricks,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
Boogie Down Productions,
Qualms,
The Misunderstood,
Khruangbin,
Sly & The Family Stone,
Little Man,
Desert Stars,
Howard Jones,
Funky Four + One,
Black Flag,
Boredoms,
Traffic Nightmare,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Don Cherry, Don Cherry, Don Cherry, Don Cherry.
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.