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 Cyprus and from Edmonton.
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 1960 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Glasgow and Spokane.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Glasgow 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 1975 at the first Ubu practice in a loft in Cleveland.
I was working on the chamberlin sounds with much patience.
I was there when Tom Verlaine 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 Sun Ra to the crunk kids.
I played it at the 40 Watt.
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 Roy Ayers Ubiquity. All the underground hits.
All Sixth Finger tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Bad Manners record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal crunk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying an oboe and an organ and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Fatback Band record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought a chamberlin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought a spring reverb.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Monolake,
Soul Sonic Force,
The Cure,
Wasted Youth,
Lebanon Hanover,
Roxette,
Larry & the Blue Notes,
Ultramagnetic MC's,
Ronnie Foster,
New Order,
the Germs,
Amazonics,
Sarah Menescal,
48th St. Collective,
Rotary Connection,
Susan Cadogan,
Malaria!,
Robert Wyatt,
Liliput,
Sonic Youth,
Q and Not U,
Thee Headcoats,
Hasil Adkins,
Minutemen,
Bobby Hutcherson,
John Lydon,
Nico,
The American Breed,
The Victims,
Man Parrish,
Althea and Donna,
Sister Nancy,
Scrapy,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
Marc Romboy vs. Booka Shade,
Procol Harum,
Anakelly,
In Retrospect,
Crash Course in Science,
Chrome,
Massinfluence,
Sight & Sound,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
Soul II Soul,
Mission of Burma,
Brand Nubian,
The Modern Lovers,
Kerri Chandler,
A Certain Ratio,
Black Sheep,
Flash Fearless,
Cybotron,
Sound Behaviour,
Patti Smith,
Terry Callier,
Das Ding,
Shuggie Otis,
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.