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 Bulgaria 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 1963 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Jakarta and Lille.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Johannesburg 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 1977 at the first Zapp practice in a loft in Hamilton.
I was working on the synthesizer sounds with much patience.
I was there when Holger Czukay 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 Quando Quango to the crunk kids.
I played it at the Astoria.
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 Sly & The Family Stone. All the underground hits.
All Von Mondo tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Half Japanese record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal techno hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a marimba and a synthesizer and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Swell Maps record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a harpsichord.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a synthesizer.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Cramps,
Fugazi,
Chris & Cosey,
Surgeon,
The Cowsills,
Todd Terry,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Derrick May,
Crash Course in Science,
The Divine Comedy,
Whodini,
Fela Kuti,
The Cosmic Jokers,
A Flock of Seagulls,
Isaac Hayes,
The Techniques,
Howard Jones,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Sugar Minott,
Mars,
Nils Olav,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
The Velvet Underground,
Sandy B,
The Last Poets,
Lou Reed,
Bluetip,
Agitation Free,
Sexual Harrassment,
Tomorrow,
Patti Smith,
La Düsseldorf,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Black Flag,
The Pretty Things,
Eric Copeland,
The Neon Judgement,
Sonny Sharrock,
Alison Limerick,
Severed Heads,
X-102,
DJ Style,
Anthony Braxton,
the Human League,
Fatback Band,
Laurel Aitken,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
Kas Product,
Lungfish,
Pagans,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
Talk Talk,
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band,
Davy DMX,
Lindisfarne,
The Angels of Light,
The Dead C,
Lower 48,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
Pharoah Sanders,
Cymande,
Easy Going,
Ohio Players, Ohio Players, Ohio Players, Ohio Players.
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.