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 Armenia and from Bologna.
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 1968 to 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lyon and Accra.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Johannesburg 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 1977 at the first Human League practice in a loft in Sheffield.
I was working on the harpsichord sounds with much patience.
I was there when Lou Reed 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 Howard Jones to the dance kids.
I played it at CBGB's.
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 Human League. All the underground hits.
All Simply Red tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Outsiders record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal electroclash hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a sitar and a theremin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Velvet Underground record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a marimba.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
a-ha,
The Trojans,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
DJ Style,
Jawbox,
Sixth Finger,
June of 44,
Albert Ayler,
Sam Rivers,
Mary Jane Girls,
DeepChord presents Echospace,
Eric B and Rakim,
D'Angelo,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
Aloha Tigers,
Heaven 17,
Dual Sessions,
The Smiths,
Jesper Dahlback,
John Holt,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
Judy Mowatt,
CMW,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Robert Hood,
Joe Finger,
Thompson Twins,
Derrick Morgan,
Coldchain, Rosco P., Featuring Pusha T from Clipse & Boo-Bonic,
Royal Trux,
Yaz,
Symarip,
The Golliwogs,
The Cramps,
ABC,
Liliput,
Ralphi Rosario,
Cal Tjader,
Rod Modell,
Terrestrial Tones,
Severed Heads,
Eli Mardock,
Bobby Byrd,
KRS-One,
Angry Samoans,
B.T. Express,
The Five Americans,
London Community Gospel Choir,
Skaos,
The Dead C,
Barbara Tucker,
Kaleidoscope,
Colin Newman,
Sugar Minott,
the Swans,
MC5,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
The Flesh Eaters,
Tomorrow,
Soul II Soul,
The Stooges, The Stooges, The Stooges, The Stooges.
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.