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 Syria and from Hong Kong.
But I was there.
I was there in 1975.
I was there at the first Ubu show in Cleveland.
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 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Edmonton and Houston.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Mexico City 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 1978 at the first Visage practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the clarinet 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 Dawn Penn to the grime kids.
I played it at the 40 Watt.
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 Suburban Knight. All the underground hits.
All Arcadia tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Bang On A Can record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal dance 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 synthesizer and an oboe and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Sisters of Mercy record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Patti Smith,
Marc Almond,
The Selecter,
The Star Department,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
Parry Music,
Faust,
Bill Wells,
Larry & the Blue Notes,
Guru Guru,
Sonny Sharrock,
Jimmy McGriff,
Gang Starr,
Delta 5,
X-101,
Art Ensemble Of Chicago,
Sun City Girls,
Popol Vuh,
Cheater Slicks,
Jeff Mills,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
Lindisfarne,
Pylon,
Icehouse,
EPMD,
New York Dolls,
The Knickerbockers,
Suicide,
Heaven 17,
Procol Harum,
PIL,
Surgeon,
The Fire Engines,
Erykah Badu,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse,
Andrew Hill,
Neu!,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Camberwell Now,
Joensuu 1685,
Roy Ayers,
Gabor Szabo,
Boogie Down Productions,
Youth Brigade,
X-102,
The Raincoats,
Radiopuhelimet,
Cal Tjader,
Masters at Work,
Robert Wyatt,
Wasted Youth,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Infiniti,
The Techniques,
Ultravox,
The Velvet Underground,
Wighnomy Brothers & Robag Wruhme,
Johnny Clarke,
Sixth Finger,
Y Pants,
Dark Day,
Rosa Yemen,
Neil Young, Neil Young, Neil Young, Neil Young.
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.