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 Venezuela and from Philadelphia.
But I was there.
I was there in 1971.
I was there at the first Big Star show in Memphis.
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 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lagos and Beijing.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Tokyo 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 oboe 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 Cabaret Voltaire to the punk kids.
I played it at the 40 Watt.
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 Jandek. All the underground hits.
All Soft Cell tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Minny Pops record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal techno hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a clarinet and a 808 and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Gil Scott Heron record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a guitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
One Last Wish,
A Certain Ratio,
Rosa Yemen,
Zapp,
Peter and Kerry,
Eli Mardock,
Minnie Riperton,
Nico,
Massinfluence,
Simply Red,
Procol Harum,
Charles Mingus,
The Shadows of Knight,
The Trojans,
Spoonie Gee,
Gil Scott Heron,
Monks,
The Modern Lovers,
Camouflage,
Basic Channel,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Unrelated Segments,
Lightning Bolt,
the Soft Cell,
Silicon Teens,
Tomorrow,
Joy Division,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
Malaria!,
These Immortal Souls,
The Invisible,
Saccharine Trust,
Tears for Fears,
Tim Buckley,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
The Cowsills,
Gregory Isaacs,
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks,
June Days,
the Slits,
Sight & Sound,
Isaac Hayes,
Tommy Roe,
Colin Newman,
Bobby Hutcherson,
Al Stewart,
KRS-One,
Sex Pistols,
Model 500,
Fugazi,
Infiniti,
Joensuu 1685,
Lower 48,
Robert Hood,
Barclay James Harvest,
Black Bananas,
10cc,
Jeff Lynne,
Absolute Body Control,
New York Dolls,
The Gun Club,
Vladislav Delay, Vladislav Delay, Vladislav Delay, Vladislav Delay.
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.