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 Mali and from Philadelphia.
But I was there.
I was there in 1984.
I was there at the first Arcadia show in London.
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 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Delhi and Manila.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Paris 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 1971 at the first Neu! practice in a loft in Düsseldorf.
I was working on the spring reverb sounds with much patience.
I was there when Robert Palmer 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 Second Layer to the electroclash kids.
I played it at Cafe Wha.
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 John Holt. All the underground hits.
All Dennis Brown tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Glenn Branca record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal punk 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 chamberlin and a mellotron and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Sam Rivers record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your rhodes and bought a guitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a rhodes.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
John Lydon,
Pere Ubu,
Bronski Beat,
Slave,
Negative Approach,
Crispy Ambulance,
Ultravox,
The Human League,
Pulsallama,
Sun Ra,
Anthony Braxton,
Bobbi Humphrey,
Groovy Waters,
Andrew Hill,
Faraquet,
Visionaries,LMNO, T- Love & Iriscience,
Major Organ And The Adding Machine,
The Blackbyrds,
The Toasters,
The Angels of Light,
Traffic Nightmare,
Flipper,
Grauzone,
Pantytec,
Thompson Twins,
Yazoo,
Mars,
Tom Boy,
John Holt,
The Remains,
Rakim,
Maurizio,
Vainqueur,
Ludus,
Joe Finger,
Minnie Riperton,
Joensuu 1685,
Fat Boys,
Alison Limerick,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Drexciya,
Soul Sonic Force,
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band,
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks,
Quantec,
Hoover,
Funkadelic,
Henry Cow,
Tears for Fears,
Robert Hood,
Spoonie Gee,
Heaven 17,
Public Image Ltd.,
Hashim,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Bang On A Can,
Dawn Penn,
Radio Birdman,
Von Mondo,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
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.