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 Nigeria and from Lagos.
But I was there.
I was there in 1977.
I was there at the first Zapp show in Hamilton.
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 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Salvador and Tokyo.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Glasgow 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 chamberlin 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 ABC to the techno 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 Gang of Four. All the underground hits.
All Barrington Levy tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Throbbing Gristle record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grime hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a snare and a synthesizer and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Sparks record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a güiro.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
OOIOO,
Rakim,
JFA,
The Blues Magoos,
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks,
Rapeman,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Bang On A Can,
Ornette Coleman,
Colin Newman,
Public Image Ltd.,
Mo-Dettes,
Loose Ends,
Bobby Womack,
Lakeside,
Technova,
Juan Atkins,
Thee Headcoats,
Jeff Mills,
Magma,
The Doobie Brothers,
Kaleidoscope,
Yellowson,
Fatback Band,
Deadbeat,
Can,
The Doors,
Boogie Down Productions,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
Cybotron,
Sister Nancy,
Dorothy Ashby,
Severed Heads,
Brick,
Sly & The Family Stone,
Kerri Chandler,
The J.B.'s,
Sarah Menescal,
The Associates,
Marc Almond,
the Normal,
Pantaleimon,
Peter and Kerry,
Albert Ayler,
Connie Case,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Massinfluence,
Nik Kershaw,
Mantronix,
Black Moon,
Janne Schatter,
Bizarre Inc.,
The Pretty Things,
Visage,
Kings Of Tomorrow,
Motorama,
Tropical Tobacco,
Joy Division,
Susan Cadogan,
Eve St. Jones,
Josef K, Josef K, Josef K, Josef K.
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.