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 Cambodia and from Mumbai.
But I was there.
I was there in 1979.
I was there at the first Second Layer show in South London.
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 1964 to 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Taipei and Sao Paulo.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lille 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 1967 at the first Rodriguez practice in a loft in Detroit.
I was working on the synthesizer sounds with much patience.
I was there when Michael McDonald 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 Grauzone to the dance kids.
I played it at Cafe Wha.
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 The Birthday Party. All the underground hits.
All Deadbeat tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Warren Ellis 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 '60s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a synthesizer and a 808 and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Mantronix record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your rhodes and bought a snare.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a rhodes.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The J.B.'s,
The Trojans,
Sex Pistols,
Eric Copeland,
The Durutti Column,
Drexciya,
Talk Talk,
Swell Maps,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Jerry's Kids,
Donny Hathaway,
Heaven 17,
the Slits,
Banda Bassotti,
Fela Kuti,
Nation of Ulysses,
Barry Ungar,
Pierre Henry,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Stetsasonic,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Morten Harket,
Johnny Clarke,
Minor Threat,
Mark Hollis,
Ralphi Rosario,
Ohio Players,
The Index,
ABC,
Simply Red,
Henry Cow,
David McCallum,
the Soft Cell,
The Men They Couldn't Hang,
Lindisfarne,
Deepchord,
Depeche Mode,
Symarip,
Black Pus,
Major Organ And The Adding Machine,
Sun City Girls,
Groovy Waters,
Sister Nancy,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
Arab on Radar,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Arthur Verocai,
Max Romeo,
Selector Dub Narcotic,
Lee Hazlewood,
Underground Resistance,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
The Doors,
Reuben Wilson,
The Leaves,
Skaos,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
Unwound,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
Loose Ends,
Cecil Taylor,
The Slackers,
Slick Rick, Slick Rick, Slick Rick, Slick Rick.
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.