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 Belize and from Halifax.
But I was there.
I was there in 1977.
I was there at the first Zapp show in Hamilton.
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 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Seoul and Accra.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Beijing 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 Throbbing Gristle practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the chamberlin sounds with much patience.
I was there when Tom Verlaine 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 Rowland S Howard / Lydia Lunch to the jazz kids.
I played it at the Astoria.
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 Matthew Halsall. All the underground hits.
All Fela Kuti tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Divine Comedy record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grunge hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a harpsichord and a theremin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Misunderstood record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought an organ.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Chocolate Watch Band,
Ultimate Spinach,
Josef K,
Rhythm & Sound,
The Raincoats,
Young Marble Giants,
Moebius,
Boredoms,
Nick Fraelich,
Gerry Rafferty,
Massinfluence,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Funky Four + One,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Reagan Youth,
The Litter,
Absolute Body Control,
The Seeds,
James White and The Blacks,
The Gories,
Moss Icon,
Ash Ra Tempel,
Tropical Tobacco,
Archie Shepp,
Isaac Hayes,
Eric Dolphy,
Ponytail,
Infiniti,
Thompson Twins,
Davy DMX,
Ronan,
Rod Modell,
Swell Maps,
The Sound,
Pantytec,
Max Romeo,
Section 25,
Tom Boy,
Pere Ubu,
Derrick Morgan,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Lower 48,
OOIOO,
Roger Hodgson,
Alice Coltrane,
Amon Düül,
Symarip,
Popol Vuh,
Zapp,
Moby Grape,
the Slits,
Jandek,
Arcadia,
Stereo Dub,
Matthew Halsall,
The Stooges,
Donald Byrd,
Pharoah Sanders,
Babytalk,
The Human League,
Curtis Mayfield,
Yellowson,
Gang Starr, Gang Starr, Gang Starr, Gang Starr.
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.