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 Gabon and from Milan.
But I was there.
I was there in 1976.
I was there at the first Wire show in Watford.
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 1960 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Sao Paulo and Houston.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lyon 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 Josef K practice in a loft in Edinburgh.
I was working on the güiro sounds with much patience.
I was there when Tom Verlaine 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 Minny Pops to the punk kids.
I played it at the 40 Watt.
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 Real Kids. All the underground hits.
All Half Japanese tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Radiohead 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 '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a theremin and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Can record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a guitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Skarface,
Technova,
John Foxx,
The Skatalites,
Bluetip,
Erykah Badu,
Sonny Sharrock,
Outsiders,
Ohio Players,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Prince Buster,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
Talk Talk,
Donald Byrd,
Kayak,
Saccharine Trust,
Slave,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Marshall Jefferson,
Swans,
Jandek,
The Move,
Duran Duran,
The Count Five,
D'Angelo,
Buzzcocks,
Bang On A Can,
Boz Scaggs,
Das Ding,
Supertramp,
Camouflage,
Echospace,
Bobby Byrd,
The Mighty Diamonds,
Bootsy's Rubber Band,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Boogie Down Productions,
Nick Fraelich,
The Saints,
Ice-T,
Peter and Kerry,
Joe Smooth,
Audionom,
Vladislav Delay,
Ultra Naté,
Pere Ubu,
Avey Tare,
Moss Icon,
The American Breed,
Pharoah Sanders,
Scion,
Stockholm Monsters,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
Jeff Mills,
Young Marble Giants,
Al Stewart,
The Dead C,
The Last Poets,
Half Japanese,
The Mojo Men,
Mars,
Amon Düül II,
Rufus Thomas,
Suburban Knight, Suburban Knight, Suburban Knight, Suburban Knight.
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.