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 Ethiopia and from Manila.
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 1964 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Tehran and Taipei.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Cairo 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 1976 at the first Soft Boys practice in a loft in Cambridge.
I was working on the arpeggiator 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 Skarface to the rap kids.
I played it at Trash.
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 H. Thieme. All the underground hits.
All The Barracudas tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Wolf Eyes record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal electroclash hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a 808 and an organ and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Terrestrial Tones record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
John Lydon,
A Flock of Seagulls,
Zapp,
Nation of Ulysses,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Sun Ra,
Fad Gadget,
Organ,
Mr. Review,
Todd Rundgren,
Kings Of Tomorrow,
Saccharine Trust,
Boz Scaggs,
June Days,
Yellowson,
Jandek,
Ash Ra Tempel,
Ralphi Rosario,
Icehouse,
The Raincoats,
Grandmaster Flash,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Patti Smith,
Minor Threat,
Ken Boothe,
U.S. Maple,
Absolute Body Control,
Bush Tetras,
Skaos,
Electric Prunes,
Rotary Connection,
Main Source,
Guru Guru,
Stiv Bators,
The Count Five,
Supertramp,
June of 44,
Lebanon Hanover,
Yaz,
Pussy Galore,
Spandau Ballet,
X-102,
The Doors,
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks,
the Swans,
Bootsy Collins,
Andrew Hill,
Livin' Joy,
Essential Logic,
Royal Trux,
Sällskapet,
Peter and Kerry,
The Kinks,
The Gun Club,
Don Cherry,
Inner City,
Sun City Girls,
Rod Modell,
Hoover,
Little Man, Little Man, Little Man, Little Man.
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.