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 Congo and from Lagos.
But I was there.
I was there in 1984.
I was there at the first Arcadia show in London.
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 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Copenhagen and Toronto.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Delhi 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 clarinet 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 Stockholm Monsters to the rap 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 Public Enemy. All the underground hits.
All Tom Boy tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Patti Smith record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rap hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a güiro and a chamberlin 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 arpeggiator and bought a guitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Oneida,
DNA,
The Stooges,
The Red Krayola,
The Cramps,
Unwound,
Bang On A Can,
Godley & Creme,
Nirvana,
Todd Terry,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Rekid,
Yaz,
Pulsallama,
The Slackers,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
Marine Girls,
Arcadia,
Khruangbin,
Letta Mbulu,
Swans,
Wally Richardson,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
Stereo Dub,
A Certain Ratio,
48th St. Collective,
Ultimate Spinach,
Chris Corsano,
Moebius,
Franke,
Donald Byrd,
Nas,
B.T. Express,
Bobbi Humphrey,
F. McDonald,
The New Christs,
Gang Gang Dance,
The Beau Brummels,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
Kings Of Tomorrow,
Lalann,
Wasted Youth,
Aswad,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Wings,
The Martian,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Terrestrial Tones,
Brick,
Reagan Youth,
Soulsonic Force,
Connie Case,
June of 44,
Pylon,
Infiniti,
Marshall Jefferson,
Moby Grape,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
Cameo,
Dennis Brown,
Youth Brigade,
Ten City,
The Smiths,
Main Source, Main Source, Main Source, Main Source.
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.