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 Ethiopia and from Glasgow.
But I was there.
I was there in 1976.
I was there at the first Feelies show in Haledon.
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 1969 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Taipei and Accra.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Mumbai 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 Soft Boys practice in a loft in Cambridge.
I was working on the theremin sounds with much patience.
I was there when Michael McDonald 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 Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five to the techno kids.
I played it at the Hacienda.
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 La Düsseldorf. All the underground hits.
All Dual Sessions tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Derrick Morgan 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 '60s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying an arpeggiator and an oboe and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Shadows of Knight record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a synthesizer.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a guitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Harmonia,
UT,
Dual Sessions,
Panda Bear,
Guru Guru,
Glenn Branca,
X-101,
Nick Fraelich,
The Birthday Party,
Magma,
Boredoms,
The Neon Judgement,
Eve St. Jones,
Minor Threat,
Theoretical Girls,
Boogie Down Productions,
Q and Not U,
Blake Baxter,
Thompson Twins,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Inner City,
Scan 7,
Warsaw,
Andrew Hill,
E-Dancer,
Traffic Nightmare,
Agent Orange,
Urselle,
cv313,
Frankie Knuckles,
Bang On A Can,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Barbara Tucker,
Lower 48,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Lou Reed,
H. Thieme,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
The United States of America,
Yaz,
The Evens,
Dark Day,
Harry Pussy,
The Velvet Underground,
The Cramps,
The Techniques,
Gang Gang Dance,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Morten Harket,
Pagans,
New Age Steppers,
The Mighty Diamonds,
Matthew Bourne,
The Blues Magoos,
Mad Mike,
Henry Cow,
Ludus,
Ronan,
Ten City,
The Names,
F. McDonald,
A Certain Ratio,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Prince Buster, Prince Buster, Prince Buster, Prince Buster.
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.