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 Malaysia and from Cairo.
But I was there.
I was there in 1977.
I was there at the first Mistral show in Amsterdam.
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 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Spokane and Spokane.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Madrid 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 harpsichord 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 Section 25 to the techno kids.
I played it at Trash.
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 Spoonie Gee. All the underground hits.
All London Community Gospel Choir tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Lonnie Liston Smith 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 '50s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a 808 and a marimba and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Traffic Nightmare record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a harpsichord.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a theremin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Clear Light,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
The Men They Couldn't Hang,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
The Young Rascals,
Saccharine Trust,
The Walker Brothers,
DeepChord presents Echospace,
Reuben Wilson,
Average White Band,
Pharoah Sanders,
The Birthday Party,
Y Pants,
Arab on Radar,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Don Cherry,
Babytalk,
Eden Ahbez,
Man Parrish,
MC5,
The Gories,
Bobby Sherman,
Dead Boys,
Eric Copeland,
Kerrie Biddell,
The Skatalites,
Drive Like Jehu,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Rekid,
Barry Ungar,
Essential Logic,
The Fall,
Blancmange,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
Erykah Badu,
The Durutti Column,
DJ Style,
The Motions,
The Star Department,
Rites of Spring,
The Trojans,
The J.B.'s,
Model 500,
New Order,
Prince Buster,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Malaria!,
Chris Corsano,
James White and The Blacks,
Byron Stingily,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
Cybotron,
Gian Franco Pienzio,
The Dave Clark Five,
Tres Demented,
Underground Resistance,
Yaz,
Johnny Clarke,
Glenn Branca,
Aswad, Aswad, Aswad, Aswad.
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.