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 Kuwait and from Tehran.
But I was there.
I was there in 1965.
I was there at the first Beefheart show in Lancaster.
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 Beijing and Manchester.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Calgary 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 clarinet sounds with much patience.
I was there when Lou Reed 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 Sällskapet to the grime kids.
I played it at the Troubador.
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 Soul II Soul. All the underground hits.
All The Angels of Light tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Moleskins record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal funk 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 linndrum and a spring reverb and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Von Mondo record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a guitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a marimba.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Sound,
Livin' Joy,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
Danielle Patucci,
Yazoo,
The Raincoats,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
The American Breed,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Bobby Womack,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Circle Jerks,
The Blackbyrds,
DeepChord presents Echospace,
Pantaleimon,
The Slackers,
the Fania All-Stars,
Nick Fraelich,
Steve Hackett,
Thee Headcoats,
Kool Moe Dee,
Joe Finger,
The Barracudas,
Eric Copeland,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
Depeche Mode,
Gong,
Public Enemy,
Bad Manners,
Wire,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
Marcia Griffiths,
Shoche,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Jeff Lynne,
the Bar-Kays,
the Germs,
Can,
David McCallum,
Gang of Four,
Peter & Gordon,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
Unwound,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
Groovy Waters,
Bronski Beat,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Davy DMX,
The J.B.'s,
The Music Machine,
Japan,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Reagan Youth,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks,
Cecil Taylor,
Basic Channel,
Animal Collective,
Aural Exciters,
Bauhaus,
The Durutti Column,
Sonny Sharrock,
The Electric Prunes, The Electric Prunes, The Electric Prunes, The Electric Prunes.
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.