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 Taiwan and from Portland.
But I was there.
I was there in 1979.
I was there at the first Second Layer show in South 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 1965 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Halifax and Manchester.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Glasgow 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 arpeggiator 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 The Smiths to the rap kids.
I played it at the Spitz.
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 Sixth Finger. All the underground hits.
All Saccharine Trust tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Leonard Cohen record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal jazz 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 marimba and a theremin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Barracudas record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a güiro.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought an organ.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Livin' Joy,
Smog,
Bluetip,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
Babytalk,
the Germs,
Man Eating Sloth,
Jimmy McGriff,
Oblivians,
The Motions,
Colin Newman,
Eli Mardock,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
The Sound,
Gichy Dan,
Maurizio,
Public Image Ltd.,
The Litter,
Notorious Big And Bone Thugs,
Thompson Twins,
Sarah Menescal,
Davy DMX,
Sexual Harrassment,
The Moleskins,
Sugar Minott,
Mary Jane Girls,
Gabor Szabo,
Sun Ra,
MC5,
Laurel Aitken,
Visionaries,LMNO, T- Love & Iriscience,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
Bizarre Inc.,
Lucky Dragons,
The Star Department,
The Busters,
The Gun Club,
Bill Near,
The Walker Brothers,
Rosa Yemen,
Sällskapet,
Swell Maps,
The Searchers,
Half Japanese,
Funky Four + One,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
The Alarm Clocks,
The Fugs,
The Techniques,
Robert Hood,
Dual Sessions,
Procol Harum,
Eric B and Rakim,
Harry Pussy,
Desert Stars,
48th St. Collective,
Frankie Knuckles,
The Barracudas,
Skriet,
Blake Baxter,
Cybotron,
Barrington Levy,
The Music Machine,
The J.B.'s, The J.B.'s, The J.B.'s, The J.B.'s.
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.