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 Barbados and from Beijing.
But I was there.
I was there in 1976.
I was there at the first Chic show in New York.
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 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Johannesburg and Calgary.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Manila 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 1984 at the first Arcadia practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the clarinet 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 The Standells to the punk kids.
I played it at CBGB's.
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 Slave. All the underground hits.
All Eden Ahbez tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every New Age Steppers record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal jazz 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 sitar and a mellotron and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Chocolate Watch Band record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought an oboe.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Crispian St. Peters,
Hoover,
Alton Ellis,
Sight & Sound,
Black Moon,
Second Layer,
X-Ray Spex,
The Mojo Men,
Depeche Mode,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
Andrew Hill,
Barrington Levy,
R.M.O.,
Howard Jones,
Fort Wilson Riot,
Dennis Brown,
Nik Kershaw,
Crispy Ambulance,
The Mighty Diamonds,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
Maleditus Sound,
Country Teasers,
Saccharine Trust,
The Smiths,
Gerry Rafferty,
the Germs,
Jesper Dahlbäck,
John Coltrane,
Jacob Miller,
Delta 5,
The Angels of Light,
Man Eating Sloth,
Pole,
Tears for Fears,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Lebanon Hanover,
Pharoah Sanders,
Sällskapet,
Henry Cow,
Marine Girls,
Connie Case,
Unwound,
The New Christs,
JFA,
Radio Birdman,
This Heat,
The Pretty Things,
T.S.O.L.,
Hot Snakes,
Bobby Womack,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
The Velvet Underground,
Moby Grape,
Mandrill,
Zapp,
Neil Young,
Agent Orange,
Niagra,
Eric B and Rakim,
Cymande,
Skarface,
Eyeless In Gaza,
Livin' Joy, Livin' Joy, Livin' Joy, Livin' Joy.
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.