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 Solomon Islands and from London.
But I was there.
I was there in 1970.
I was there at the first Onyeabor show in Enugu.
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 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in New York and Calgary.
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 Bronski Beat practice in a loft in Brixton.
I was working on the chamberlin sounds with much patience.
I was there when Nile Rodgers 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 Brass Construction to the funk kids.
I played it at the Spitz.
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 Severed Heads. All the underground hits.
All Minny Pops tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Crime 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 '80s.
I hear you're buying an arpeggiator and a chamberlin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Iggy Pop record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a güiro.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a mellotron.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
John Holt,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Eric Copeland,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Jerry's Kids,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
Magazine,
David Bowie,
Mars,
Fugazi,
Nirvana,
Motorama,
Intrusion,
U.S. Maple,
Lightning Bolt,
Rakim,
The United States of America,
Eddi Front,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
B.T. Express,
Scan 7,
Scott Walker + Sunn O))),
Pharoah Sanders,
The Velvet Underground,
Black Sheep,
Anthony Braxton,
David Axelrod,
The New Christs,
Icehouse,
Neil Young,
Das Ding,
Sexual Harrassment,
Tommy Roe,
Prince Buster,
T.S.O.L.,
Soul II Soul,
Massinfluence,
Throbbing Gristle,
Cybotron,
Cluster,
The Birthday Party,
Visage,
The Raincoats,
Neu!,
The Beau Brummels,
The Associates,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
Sun City Girls,
Brick,
Tim Buckley,
The Moleskins,
Davy DMX,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Silicon Teens,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
Fluxion,
Youth Brigade,
the Human League,
Nick Fraelich, Nick Fraelich, Nick Fraelich, Nick Fraelich.
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.