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 Mauritius and from Copenhagen.
But I was there.
I was there in 1975.
I was there at the first Ubu show in Cleveland.
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 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Edmonton and Winnipeg.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school New York 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 1983 at the first Art of Noise practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the linndrum sounds with much patience.
I was there when David Bowie 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 Human League to the dance kids.
I played it at the Crocodile.
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 Sound. All the underground hits.
All Cecil Taylor tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Angels of Light & Akron/Family record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal disco hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying an arpeggiator and an oboe and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Clear Light record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a mellotron.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
June Days,
Dead Boys,
Chrome,
Sun Ra,
Zapp,
Negative Approach,
DJ Sneak,
David Bowie,
Swans,
Fela Kuti,
H. Thieme,
Stockholm Monsters,
Delon & Dalcan,
Minutemen,
Peter & Gordon,
World's Most,
Yazoo,
The Monks,
The Misunderstood,
Archie Shepp,
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Khruangbin,
Rhythm & Sound,
Jeru the Damaja,
Marshall Jefferson,
Arcadia,
Underground Resistance,
X-102,
Eric B and Rakim,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Eden Ahbez,
Fluxion,
F. McDonald,
The Men They Couldn't Hang,
The Grass Roots,
Ultravox,
Chris & Cosey,
Bill Wells,
PIL,
Clear Light,
The Beau Brummels,
Scratch Acid,
Johnny Clarke,
Alphaville,
Ultramagnetic MC's,
Banda Bassotti,
Ash Ra Tempel,
Suburban Knight,
The Cure,
Stetsasonic,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
Juan Atkins,
Television,
Kayak,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Y Pants,
The Birthday Party,
Johnny Osbourne,
Stiv Bators, Stiv Bators, Stiv Bators, Stiv Bators.
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.