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 Korea North and from Mumbai.
But I was there.
I was there in 1975.
I was there at the first Ubu show in Cleveland.
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 1964 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Cairo and Delhi.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Taipei 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 1980 at the first Cybotron practice in a loft in Detroit.
I was working on the oboe 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 Gil Scott Heron to the grime kids.
I played it at the Roxy.
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 Kool G Rap & DJ Polo. All the underground hits.
All Vaughan Mason & Crew tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Skaos 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 snare and an oboe and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Howard Jones record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a synthesizer.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Raincoats,
Mary Jane Girls,
Magma,
Art Ensemble Of Chicago,
The Invisible,
Grey Daturas,
Gregory Isaacs,
Funky Four + One,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
The Walker Brothers,
Scrapy,
Yellowson,
Tim Buckley,
Agent Orange,
Suburban Knight,
Darondo,
The Fugs,
John Lydon,
Robert Hood,
Lucky Dragons,
Simply Red,
Oblivians,
The Smiths,
Pylon,
Stiv Bators,
Nils Olav,
Erykah Badu,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Blossom Toes,
John Coltrane,
Barbara Tucker,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Organ,
The Vogues,
Dawn Penn,
Danielle Patucci,
The Alarm Clocks,
Cal Tjader,
Jacques Brel,
Joyce Sims,
June Days,
R.M.O.,
Amon Düül II,
The Wake,
Prince Buster,
Circle Jerks,
Crooked Eye,
The Blues Magoos,
One Last Wish,
Nas,
The Blackbyrds,
Terry Callier,
Be Bop Deluxe,
Alison Limerick,
The Monks,
Dennis Brown,
Joey Negro,
Amazonics,
Scion,
Dead Boys, Dead Boys, Dead Boys, Dead Boys.
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.