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 Eritrea and from Accra.
But I was there.
I was there in 1975.
I was there at the first Throbbing Gristle show in 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 1967 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Shanghai and Accra.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school London 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 1975 at the first Ubu practice in a loft in Cleveland.
I was working on the rhodes 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 The Velvet Underground to the grunge 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 Yaz. All the underground hits.
All Mark Hollis tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every James Chance & The Contortions record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grime hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a 808 and a theremin 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 arpeggiator and bought a snare.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Rhythm & Sound,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
The Trojans,
Jacques Brel,
Gabor Szabo,
Lungfish,
Eric B and Rakim,
Alton Ellis,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Gil Scott Heron,
Stiv Bators,
Robert Hood,
Underground Resistance,
Symarip,
The Pretty Things,
ABBA,
the Swans,
Harry Pussy,
Rod Modell,
Warsaw,
The Selecter,
DJ Sneak,
Chrome,
Excepter,
Byron Stingily,
Marine Girls,
Y Pants,
Dual Sessions,
David Bowie,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Todd Rundgren,
The Dead C,
Quantec,
Minor Threat,
The Detroit Cobras,
Desert Stars,
The Fuzztones,
Joyce Sims,
Aswad,
Susan Cadogan,
Adolescents,
June Days,
Theoretical Girls,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
X-102,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Rotary Connection,
Yazoo,
Patti Smith,
Grandmaster Flash,
Bill Wells,
FM Einheit,
Derrick Morgan,
The Move,
Eden Ahbez,
Newcleus,
Robert Wyatt,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Leonard Cohen,
Sonic Youth,
Darondo,
The Motions,
Goldenarms, Goldenarms, Goldenarms, Goldenarms.
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.