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 Turkmenistan and from Philadelphia.
But I was there.
I was there in 1976.
I was there at the first Wire show in Watford.
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 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Accra and Milan.
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 1975 at the first Throbbing Gristle practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the snare 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 Patti Smith to the rock kids.
I played it at the Spitz.
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 Velvet Underground. All the underground hits.
All Arcadia tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every E-Dancer record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rap 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 a snare and a marimba and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Art Ensemble Of Chicago record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought an oboe.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Angels of Light,
The Count Five,
Fort Wilson Riot,
Crispian St. Peters,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Depeche Mode,
Neu!,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Radiohead,
Newcleus,
DJ Sneak,
Bad Manners,
Animal Collective,
Mad Mike,
Con Funk Shun,
Eurythmics,
Bobby Womack,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Funkadelic,
Oneida,
The Martian,
Tom Boy,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
Interpol,
Roxy Music,
Vladislav Delay,
Aswad,
Donald Byrd,
The Mighty Diamonds,
the Soft Cell,
Maleditus Sound,
Young Marble Giants,
Leonard Cohen,
Minutemen,
Boredoms,
The Names,
Fear,
Ossler,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
Sparks,
Eric Copeland,
Fela Kuti,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Joe Smooth,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Easy Going,
The Sisters of Mercy,
David McCallum,
Isaac Hayes,
Terror Squad Feat. Camron,
Sonny Sharrock,
FM Einheit,
Grauzone,
James Chance & The Contortions,
World's Most,
Eric B and Rakim,
Mission of Burma,
Delon & Dalcan,
Lindisfarne,
Index,
Janne Schatter, Janne Schatter, Janne Schatter, Janne Schatter.
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.