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 Malawi and from Johannesburg.
But I was there.
I was there in 1977.
I was there at the first Human League show in Sheffield.
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 1969 to 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Philadelphia and Accra.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school New York 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 1970 at the first Onyeabor practice in a loft in Enugu.
I was working on the clarinet sounds with much patience.
I was there when Holger Czukay 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 Sparks to the dance kids.
I played it at the Spitz.
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 Swell Maps. All the underground hits.
All The Mummies tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark 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 '50s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a theremin and an organ and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Young Marble Giants record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a marimba.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a harpsichord.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Symarip,
Cluster,
The J.B.'s,
Suburban Knight,
Saccharine Trust,
DJ Style,
Iggy Pop,
Mad Mike,
Davy DMX,
Spandau Ballet,
Idris Muhammad,
Barclay James Harvest,
June Days,
Unrelated Segments,
Fad Gadget,
Sixth Finger,
Average White Band,
Sarah Menescal,
The Offenders,
The Smoke,
Chrome,
The Zeros,
Scan 7,
The Divine Comedy,
T.S.O.L.,
Reagan Youth,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
Ohio Players,
Fort Wilson Riot,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
Altered Images,
Marcia Griffiths,
Lightning Bolt,
Alton Ellis,
Electric Prunes,
The Associates,
Black Bananas,
Marvin Gaye,
Dave Gahan,
Jeff Mills,
Absolute Body Control,
Traffic Nightmare,
Scott Walker + Sunn O))),
Arcadia,
Radio Birdman,
Marmalade,
Harmonia,
Harpers Bizarre,
Masters at Work,
Jawbox,
Dark Day,
Kerrie Biddell,
Soft Machine,
MDC,
Sex Pistols,
Desert Stars,
Whodini,
The Young Rascals,
Man Eating Sloth,
Jimmy McGriff,
Loose Ends,
Quadrant, Quadrant, Quadrant, Quadrant.
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.