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 Mali and from Shanghai.
But I was there.
I was there in 1977.
I was there at the first Human League show in Sheffield.
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 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Johannesburg and Tokyo.
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 1979 at the first Josef K practice in a loft in Edinburgh.
I was working on the clarinet 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 Pantaleimon to the grunge kids.
I played it at the Spitz.
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 Bronski Beat. All the underground hits.
All Donald Byrd tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Pet Shop Boys 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 '70s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a sitar and a marimba and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Sly & The Family Stone record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your linndrum and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a linndrum.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
Agent Orange,
The Smoke,
Thee Headcoats,
Amon Düül,
Fort Wilson Riot,
Sixth Finger,
UT,
Terry Callier,
Robert Wyatt,
Brand Nubian,
The Invisible,
ABBA,
T.S.O.L.,
Dennis Brown,
Donald Byrd,
Sparks,
The Skatalites,
Kevin Saunderson,
Piero Umiliani,
Brothers Johnson,
Con Funk Shun,
Mary Jane Girls,
The Fire Engines,
Blancmange,
Little Man,
Eddi Front,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282,
John Lydon,
a-ha,
K-Klass,
Sonic Youth,
Pantaleimon,
Roy Ayers,
The Mojo Men,
DeepChord presents Echospace,
Patti Smith,
The Stooges,
Soulsonic Force,
Basic Channel,
Kool Moe Dee,
Wire,
Sight & Sound,
La Düsseldorf,
The Pretty Things,
Pagans,
Q65,
Janne Schatter,
Rakim,
Larry & the Blue Notes,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Roger Hodgson,
Can,
Dark Day,
Malaria!,
The Pop Group,
Neu!,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Unrelated Segments,
Wolf Eyes,
T. Rex,
Albert Ayler,
Chris & Cosey, Chris & Cosey, Chris & Cosey, Chris & Cosey.
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.