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 Kiribati and from Winnipeg.
But I was there.
I was there in 1968.
I was there at the first Bowie show in Bromley.
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 1963 to 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Mumbai and Spokane.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Paris 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 1983 at the first Art of Noise practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the synthesizer 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 Curtis Mayfield to the jazz kids.
I played it at the Troubador.
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 Young Rascals. All the underground hits.
All Symarip tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Divine Comedy 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 marimba and a synthesizer and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Ronan record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought an organ.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Pussy Galore,
The Monochrome Set,
Jacques Brel,
The Saints,
Main Source,
Porter Ricks,
Section 25,
The Five Americans,
Fela Kuti,
Cheater Slicks,
Stereo Dub,
The J.B.'s,
Pylon,
the Normal,
Second Layer,
Interpol,
Masters at Work,
Tomorrow,
Jimmy McGriff,
Desert Stars,
The Misunderstood,
Robert Hood,
Amazonics,
Joey Negro,
Max Romeo,
Maurizio,
Camouflage,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
The Litter,
T. Rex,
Neu!,
Andrew Hill,
Cameo,
DeepChord presents Echospace,
Ossler,
Eve St. Jones,
The Alarm Clocks,
Bobby Sherman,
Joe Finger,
Q and Not U,
Matthew Bourne,
Al Stewart,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Eric Dolphy,
Duran Duran,
Ohio Players,
Cal Tjader,
Siglo XX,
David Axelrod,
Laurel Aitken,
The Dead C,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Funkadelic,
MC5,
Suburban Knight,
Black Flag,
Minutemen,
The Smoke,
F. McDonald,
Be Bop Deluxe,
Japan, Japan, Japan, Japan.
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.