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 St Kitts & Nevis and from Edmonton.
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 1967 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Paris and Seoul.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Manila 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 1976 at the first Buzzcocks practice in a loft in Bolton.
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 Big Daddy Kane to the crunk 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 Skatalites. All the underground hits.
All Lou Reed & John Cale tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Roy Ayers record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rap 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 chamberlin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your linndrum and bought an oboe.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a linndrum.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
David Bowie,
The Pop Group,
Prince Buster,
Bizarre Inc.,
Tropical Tobacco,
Tommy Roe,
Lebanon Hanover,
Grey Daturas,
Freddie Wadling,
June of 44,
Marc Romboy vs. Booka Shade,
Skriet,
the Swans,
ABBA,
Pussy Galore,
Eden Ahbez,
Slave,
Rakim,
Curtis Mayfield,
Todd Terry,
Young Marble Giants,
U.S. Maple,
The Stooges,
Judy Mowatt,
KRS-One,
The Selecter,
Reuben Wilson,
OOIOO,
Dave Gahan,
Drive Like Jehu,
R.M.O.,
Idris Muhammad,
Laurel Aitken,
Von Mondo,
Drexciya,
The Blackbyrds,
Godley & Creme,
The Velvet Underground,
The Chocolate Watch Band,
Black Sheep,
Reagan Youth,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Johnny Clarke,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks,
Throbbing Gristle,
Underground Resistance,
The Motions,
Hardrive,
Y Pants,
Cameo,
Amon Düül II,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Nico,
Agitation Free,
John Coltrane,
Donny Hathaway,
Girls At Our Best!,
Brothers Johnson,
Vainqueur, Vainqueur, Vainqueur, Vainqueur.
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.