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 Afghanistan and from Manchester.
But I was there.
I was there in 1970.
I was there at the first Onyeabor show in Enugu.
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 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Toronto and Beijing.
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 1984 at the first Arcadia practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the guitar sounds with much patience.
I was there when Holger Czukay 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 Blues Magoos to the electroclash 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 The Gladiators. All the underground hits.
All Jeff Lynne tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Sonic Youth 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 '70s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a guitar and a güiro and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Crispian St. Peters record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a guitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
John Foxx,
Rekid,
the Swans,
The Detroit Cobras,
Black Flag,
H. Thieme,
Ronnie Foster,
Sex Pistols,
The Gun Club,
8 Eyed Spy,
The Invisible,
Spoonie Gee,
A Flock of Seagulls,
The Kinks,
OOIOO,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
Bush Tetras,
La Düsseldorf,
Radio Birdman,
New Order,
Pet Shop Boys,
Cluster,
The Toasters,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
Underground Resistance,
Be Bop Deluxe,
Popol Vuh,
Pulsallama,
Jawbox,
Audionom,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Grandmaster Flash,
Scrapy,
Tom Boy,
Bad Manners,
The Selecter,
The Trojans,
Q and Not U,
Amazonics,
Cybotron,
F. McDonald,
Yusef Lateef,
Rites of Spring,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
The Knickerbockers,
Bootsy's Rubber Band,
Shuggie Otis,
Magazine,
Josef K,
David McCallum,
The Doobie Brothers,
The Electric Prunes,
The Tremeloes,
Chrome,
Terror Squad Feat. Camron,
Lebanon Hanover,
Ornette Coleman,
One Last Wish,
Hardrive,
Young Marble Giants,
Thee Headcoats,
Anakelly, Anakelly, Anakelly, Anakelly.
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.