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 Grenada and from Manchester.
But I was there.
I was there in 2001.
I was there at the first Tiga show in Montreal.
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 Bologna and Halifax.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Stockholm 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 Chic practice in a loft in New York.
I was working on the clarinet sounds with much patience.
I was there when Captain Beefheart 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 Boogie Down Productions to the punk 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 Funky Four + One. All the underground hits.
All Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Monolake record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal funk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a 808 and a clarinet and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Manfred Mann's Earth Band record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a güiro.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
Arcadia,
Oblivians,
Nick Fraelich,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Patti Smith,
Bauhaus,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Tres Demented,
Radiohead,
Depeche Mode,
Yellowson,
Stiv Bators,
Mark Hollis,
DJ Sneak,
Barrington Levy,
Lightning Bolt,
Rotary Connection,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
Mantronix,
Motorama,
The Residents,
Heaven 17,
Man Eating Sloth,
The Birthday Party,
Ituana,
Rakim,
Super Lover Cee & Casanova Rud,
Erykah Badu,
The Mojo Men,
Soul II Soul,
Clear Light,
Altered Images,
Crispian St. Peters,
Howard Jones,
Spandau Ballet,
Moebius,
Flash Fearless,
The Chocolate Watch Band,
The Gun Club,
Ralphi Rosario,
Visionaries,LMNO, T- Love & Iriscience,
Ornette Coleman,
The Saints,
The Seeds,
Sexual Harrassment,
The Evens,
Godley & Creme,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
Art Ensemble Of Chicago,
The Gories,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
Archie Shepp,
Groovy Waters,
Kas Product,
Shuggie Otis,
the Soft Cell,
Popol Vuh,
Infiniti,
The Leaves,
Throbbing Gristle,
KRS-One,
The Vogues,
Echospace, Echospace, Echospace, Echospace.
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.