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 Nicaragua and from Tehran.
But I was there.
I was there in 1979.
I was there at the first Josef K show in Edinburgh.
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 1967 to 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Bologna and Houston.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Tehran 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 Ubu practice in a loft in Cleveland.
I was working on the theremin sounds with much patience.
I was there when Holger Czukay 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 Joe Finger to the rap kids.
I played it at the Hacienda.
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 Sonics. All the underground hits.
All Fela Kuti tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Lyres 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 '80s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a guitar and a sitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Ronan record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a spring reverb.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought a güiro.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Star Department,
Max Romeo,
Mad Mike,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Albert Ayler,
The Blackbyrds,
Eric B and Rakim,
Hasil Adkins,
The Smoke,
Ornette Coleman,
Faraquet,
Patti Smith,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
Barrington Levy,
Pet Shop Boys,
The Dave Clark Five,
The Flesh Eaters,
Pussy Galore,
Dawn Penn,
DJ Sneak,
John Foxx,
Terry Callier,
Spoonie Gee,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Reagan Youth,
Dennis Brown,
Joy Division,
Youth Brigade,
Guru Guru,
The Invisible,
Massinfluence,
Buzzcocks,
Tim Buckley,
Eli Mardock,
Unrelated Segments,
The Alarm Clocks,
The Associates,
Sonic Youth,
EPMD,
a-ha,
Neu!,
Skaos,
Roy Ayers,
The Gories,
London Community Gospel Choir,
The Angels of Light,
T.S.O.L.,
Pylon,
Gang of Four,
The Mojo Men,
Shuggie Otis,
Essential Logic,
Althea and Donna,
Heaven 17,
Rapeman,
Todd Rundgren,
Blake Baxter,
The Happenings,
Echospace,
Circle Jerks,
David Bowie,
Khruangbin,
Sarah Menescal,
Brick, Brick, Brick, Brick.
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.