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 Sri Lanka and from Portland.
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 1963 to 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Delhi and Lagos.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Hong Kong 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 1977 at the first Human League practice in a loft in Sheffield.
I was working on the linndrum sounds with much patience.
I was there when Captain Beefheart 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 Urselle to the grunge 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 Thee Headcoats. All the underground hits.
All Arcadia tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Fire Engines record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal dance 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 arpeggiator and an organ and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Cluster record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a sitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought a mellotron.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
James Chance & The Contortions,
Matthew Bourne,
Crooked Eye,
Leonard Cohen,
Albert Ayler,
Ultimate Spinach,
Blossom Toes,
Gang Green,
Bootsy's Rubber Band,
Thee Headcoats,
Loose Ends,
Pylon,
Anthony Braxton,
Suicide,
EPMD,
Matthew Halsall,
The Human League,
Arthur Verocai,
Eurythmics,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
Sunsets and Hearts,
D'Angelo,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Underground Resistance,
Amon Düül II,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Kenny Larkin,
The Smoke,
Ronan,
Rhythm & Sound,
The Music Machine,
The Young Rascals,
Michelle Simonal,
The Beau Brummels,
Radio Birdman,
The Mighty Diamonds,
Marc Romboy vs. Booka Shade,
Alison Limerick,
Black Bananas,
Hashim,
In Retrospect,
Terrestrial Tones,
Hot Snakes,
Lalann,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Todd Rundgren,
June of 44,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Moby Grape,
Nas,
Q65,
Au Pairs,
The Trojans,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
The Fuzztones,
Brass Construction,
Hardrive,
Jerry's Kids,
Cecil Taylor,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Fort Wilson Riot,
John Holt,
the Swans, the Swans, the Swans, the Swans.
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.