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 Iran and from Beijing.
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 1965 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Toronto and Spokane.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Halifax 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 Mistral practice in a loft in Amsterdam.
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 Man Eating Sloth to the rock 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 Soul Sonic Force. All the underground hits.
All DJ Style tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Jesper Dahlback 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 '50s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a snare and a harpsichord and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The United States of America record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought an oboe.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Young Rascals,
Boredoms,
Letta Mbulu,
Flash Fearless,
Pet Shop Boys,
Brick,
Todd Terry,
The Smiths,
Idris Muhammad,
Sandy B,
Camberwell Now,
Sällskapet,
Camouflage,
Monks,
Steve Hackett,
John Lydon,
the Swans,
The Shadows of Knight,
Model 500,
Reagan Youth,
Anthony Braxton,
Yusef Lateef,
Johnny Clarke,
The Monochrome Set,
Heaven 17,
EPMD,
Aaron Thompson,
Dennis Brown,
Sonic Youth,
The United States of America,
Adolescents,
The Neon Judgement,
Lyres,
Glenn Branca,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
CMW,
Minor Threat,
Minnie Riperton,
Notorious BIG live in Amsterdam,
Colin Newman,
Visionaries,LMNO, T- Love & Iriscience,
Lou Reed,
The Seeds,
Urselle,
Jandek,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Wolf Eyes,
Pole,
Theoretical Girls,
Technova,
The Moleskins,
L. Decosne,
Gian Franco Pienzio,
June Days,
Lucky Dragons,
Joensuu 1685,
Jesper Dahlbäck,
Drive Like Jehu,
Graham Central Station,
Joyce Sims, Joyce Sims, Joyce Sims, Joyce Sims.
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.