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 Barbados and from Bremen.
But I was there.
I was there in 1979.
I was there at the first Second Layer show in South London.
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 1962 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Accra and Portland.
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 1967 at the first Rodriguez practice in a loft in Detroit.
I was working on the arpeggiator 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 Liliput to the jazz 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 Chris & Cosey. All the underground hits.
All Rotary Connection tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Cure 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 '80s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a snare and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Howard Jones record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a harpsichord.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Aural Exciters,
Half Japanese,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
The Vogues,
Sonic Youth,
Underground Resistance,
the Swans,
Wasted Youth,
Vladislav Delay,
Minor Threat,
Electric Prunes,
The Last Poets,
Steve Hackett,
Quantec,
the Germs,
Procol Harum,
the Slits,
DeepChord presents Echospace,
Danielle Patucci,
John Cale,
kango's stein massive,
Severed Heads,
Theoretical Girls,
Sam Rivers,
Alton Ellis,
Silicon Teens,
Arcadia,
Hashim,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Erasure,
The Sound,
Cal Tjader,
Ultra Naté,
Ronan,
The Music Machine,
Television Personalities,
The Tremeloes,
The Five Americans,
Man Parrish,
The Angels of Light,
Joe Finger,
Barclay James Harvest,
The Star Department,
Ajijia Myrayebe,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Crispian St. Peters,
the Human League,
Tim Buckley,
Simply Red,
Derrick Morgan,
EPMD,
The Fire Engines,
B.T. Express,
Matthew Bourne,
Drive Like Jehu,
Gian Franco Pienzio,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Bizarre Inc.,
Kevin Saunderson,
London Community Gospel Choir,
The Happenings, The Happenings, The Happenings, The Happenings.
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.