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 Rwanda and from Manila.
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 1960 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Tehran and Manchester.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Sao Paulo 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 1968 at the first Bowie practice in a loft in Bromley.
I was working on the organ 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 Curtis Mayfield to the rock kids.
I played it at CBGB's.
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 Joe Smooth. All the underground hits.
All Gary Puckett & The Union Gap tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Dave Clark 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 '70s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a theremin and a marimba 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 güiro and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a güiro.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Jeff Lynne,
Flipper,
Marcia Griffiths,
Swans,
Qualms,
The Skatalites,
Sexual Harrassment,
Television Personalities,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Skriet,
Michelle Simonal,
Sällskapet,
Visage,
Neil Young,
Quando Quango,
Roxy Music,
Ossler,
Anthony Braxton,
Wolf Eyes,
The Fire Engines,
The Golliwogs,
Eric Copeland,
Jawbox,
Nils Olav,
Spandau Ballet,
Fad Gadget,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
Circle Jerks,
Technova,
The Smoke,
Fela Kuti,
Throbbing Gristle,
Nirvana,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
Kas Product,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Leonard Cohen,
Angry Samoans,
the Human League,
H. Thieme,
Pantaleimon,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Soft Cell,
Joe Finger,
Banda Bassotti,
Stockholm Monsters,
Bizarre Inc.,
Urselle,
Sparks,
The Blackbyrds,
The Invisible,
Scientists,
Todd Terry,
The Real Kids,
Mantronix,
Bobby Byrd,
Wally Richardson,
Simply Red,
Zero Boys,
Radiohead, Radiohead, Radiohead, Radiohead.
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.