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 Italy and from Winnipeg.
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 1966 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Salvador and Spokane.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Houston 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 1976 at the first Chic practice in a loft in New York.
I was working on the clarinet 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 Soul II Soul to the grime 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 Grauzone. All the underground hits.
All Can tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog 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 clarinet and a synthesizer and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Masters at Work record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a rhodes.
I hear that you and your band have sold your rhodes and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Avey Tare,
The Grass Roots,
ABBA,
Electric Light Orchestra,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
Thompson Twins,
Gichy Dan,
Faust,
KRS-One,
Symarip,
Khruangbin,
The Remains,
Radio Birdman,
Erykah Badu,
Aloha Tigers,
Das Ding,
Joy Division,
Minutemen,
ABC,
Hasil Adkins,
Henry Cow,
Bootsy's Rubber Band,
Faraquet,
Liliput,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Judy Mowatt,
Yaz,
Scrapy,
Desert Stars,
The Monochrome Set,
Quantec,
B.T. Express,
Notorious Big And Bone Thugs,
Interpol,
Deepchord,
Marine Girls,
Amazonics,
Jacques Brel,
Mantronix,
London Community Gospel Choir,
Mary Jane Girls,
Roy Ayers,
The Sound,
Sparks,
Section 25,
The Real Kids,
Bad Manners,
Hashim,
New York Dolls,
Lee Hazlewood,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
The Pretty Things,
Arthur Verocai,
Crispian St. Peters,
In Retrospect,
Bluetip,
The Cramps,
Metal Thangz,
Nico,
Barbara Tucker,
Fat Boys,
Livin' Joy,
48th St. Collective,
Spandau Ballet, Spandau Ballet, Spandau Ballet, Spandau Ballet.
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.