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 Mauritius and from Portland.
But I was there.
I was there in 1977.
I was there at the first Zapp show in Hamilton.
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 1966 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Shanghai and Hong Kong.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school London 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 1979 at the first Second Layer practice in a loft in South London.
I was working on the mellotron 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 Gang of Four to the jazz kids.
I played it at the Crocodile.
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 The Moody Blues. All the underground hits.
All Bill Near tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Loose Ends record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal dance hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a chamberlin and a marimba and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Wire record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a sitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought a güiro.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Sun Ra,
Excepter,
Dual Sessions,
Bang On A Can,
Dorothy Ashby,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Terry Callier,
Michelle Simonal,
MC5,
Archie Shepp,
Cheater Slicks,
Letta Mbulu,
Joey Negro,
Monks,
Ossler,
Crime,
Kas Product,
Erykah Badu,
Trumans Water,
The Durutti Column,
Agent Orange,
Wolf Eyes,
The Litter,
Erasure,
Barry Ungar,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
The Walker Brothers,
Minnie Riperton,
The Monochrome Set,
the Germs,
Neu!,
PIL,
Soft Machine,
Throbbing Gristle,
Be Bop Deluxe,
Nation of Ulysses,
The Offenders,
The Human League,
The Black Dice,
Deepchord,
Stetsasonic,
Stockholm Monsters,
Isaac Hayes,
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
Lou Christie,
Grey Daturas,
Bauhaus,
Glenn Branca,
Ajijia Myrayebe,
Marc Almond,
Brand Nubian,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
David Bowie,
The Birthday Party,
Qualms,
Gil Scott Heron,
Pagans,
Outsiders,
Easy Going,
Black Flag,
AZ,
Rapeman,
Reagan Youth, Reagan Youth, Reagan Youth, Reagan Youth.
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.