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 Chile and from Lagos.
But I was there.
I was there in 1977.
I was there at the first Mistral show in Amsterdam.
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 1968 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Philadelphia and Salvador.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Madrid 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 Feelies practice in a loft in Haledon.
I was working on the güiro sounds with much patience.
I was there when Robert Palmer 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 Unrelated Segments to the electroclash 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 Tubeway Army. All the underground hits.
All Gang Gang Dance tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Bauhaus record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal disco hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a chamberlin and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Basic Channel record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a marimba.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a guitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Smiths,
Johnny Clarke,
Harmonia,
Iggy Pop,
Crispy Ambulance,
Leonard Cohen,
Terrestrial Tones,
the Germs,
Depeche Mode,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
Tom Boy,
Drexciya,
Althea and Donna,
Stiv Bators,
Joy Division,
The Gladiators,
Angry Samoans,
Das Ding,
Rites of Spring,
The Trojans,
Ludus,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Kas Product,
Television,
DJ Sneak,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
Loose Ends,
Marmalade,
The Stooges,
Los Fastidios,
The Raincoats,
Eve St. Jones,
Absolute Body Control,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Super Lover Cee & Casanova Rud,
Accadde A,
James White and The Blacks,
Josef K,
Idris Muhammad,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Nico,
Chrome,
Rufus Thomas,
The Five Americans,
The Blues Magoos,
Funky Four + One,
London Community Gospel Choir,
Warsaw,
Sällskapet,
Agitation Free,
Brothers Johnson,
Jimmy McGriff,
Tears for Fears,
Flamin' Groovies,
Freddie Wadling,
Eddi Front,
Peter and Kerry,
Jeff Lynne,
Nils Olav,
Lou Reed,
Bobbi Humphrey,
Gerry Rafferty,
R.M.O., R.M.O., R.M.O., R.M.O..
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.