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 1976.
I was there at the first Buzzcocks show in Bolton.
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 Lille and Bologna.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Accra 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 clarinet sounds with much patience.
I was there when David Bowie 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 Duran Duran to the grime kids.
I played it at the Crocodile.
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 Bang on a Can All-Stars. All the underground hits.
All X-102 tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Mars record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal crunk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a clarinet and a 808 and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Second Layer record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a snare.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a güiro.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Oneida,
Radio Birdman,
Ponytail,
Marvin Gaye,
Q65,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
Crispian St. Peters,
Yazoo,
Scott Walker,
Ultravox,
Scion,
Angry Samoans,
David McCallum,
Joensuu 1685,
Groovy Waters,
Yusef Lateef,
R.M.O.,
The Kinks,
Robert Wyatt,
The Birthday Party,
B.T. Express,
Sly & The Family Stone,
Junior Murvin,
Swans,
Stetsasonic,
Freddie Wadling,
The Mojo Men,
Kenny Larkin,
Gong,
Deadbeat,
Cecil Taylor,
Gichy Dan,
T. Rex,
Grey Daturas,
The Star Department,
T.S.O.L.,
The Grass Roots,
The Selecter,
a-ha,
Michelle Simonal,
Goldenarms,
Maurizio,
Derrick May,
Notorious Big And Bone Thugs,
JFA,
Jerry Gold Smith,
Ken Boothe,
Metal Thangz,
Spandau Ballet,
Crispy Ambulance,
Dorothy Ashby,
The Buckinghams,
Symarip,
Darondo,
Radiopuhelimet,
Major Organ And The Adding Machine,
The Happenings,
Lalann,
The Human League,
Bauhaus,
Massinfluence,
Soft Cell,
Kerrie Biddell,
Khruangbin, Khruangbin, Khruangbin, Khruangbin.
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.