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 Germany and from Philadelphia.
But I was there.
I was there in 1976.
I was there at the first Soft Boys show in Cambridge.
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 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Paris and Delhi.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Beijing 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 1983 at the first Bronski Beat practice in a loft in Brixton.
I was working on the spring reverb sounds with much patience.
I was there when Captain Beefheart 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 Wire to the grime 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 Theoretical Girls. All the underground hits.
All The Standells tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five 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 '60s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a mellotron and a sitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Doobie Brothers record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a marimba.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a mellotron.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Fugs,
Mars,
Organ,
10cc,
The Zeros,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
The Alarm Clocks,
Khruangbin,
Agitation Free,
Kas Product,
Lou Reed,
Pole,
Aaron Thompson,
Cymande,
Slave,
Leonard Cohen,
The Toasters,
LL Cool J,
Scott Walker,
Technova,
Wally Richardson,
Nick Fraelich,
The Gories,
Sandy B,
Faust,
Ultravox,
Ice-T,
Qualms,
Franke,
Pylon,
Mantronix,
The Pop Group,
K-Klass,
Banda Bassotti,
F. McDonald,
New Order,
Piero Umiliani,
Joe Smooth,
Spoonie Gee,
Lizzy Mercier Descloux,
Fluxion,
Eddi Front,
Derrick May,
Jeff Lynne,
Danielle Patucci,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
The Associates,
Von Mondo,
Public Image Ltd.,
FM Einheit,
48th St. Collective,
Al Stewart,
The Smoke,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Warren Ellis,
The Cowsills,
Bobby Byrd,
Smog,
World's Most,
Grauzone,
Laurel Aitken,
June of 44,
Glenn Branca, Glenn Branca, Glenn Branca, Glenn Branca.
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.