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 Guinea-Bissau and from Hong Kong.
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 1968 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Bologna and Calgary.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Milan 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 clarinet sounds with much patience.
I was there when David Bowie 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 Sun City Girls to the rock kids.
I played it at the Astoria.
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 U.S. Maple. All the underground hits.
All Nils Olav tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Oppenheimer Analysis 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 '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying an organ and a harpsichord and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a John Cale record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought an oboe.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
In Retrospect,
The Knickerbockers,
Guru Guru,
Severed Heads,
Circle Jerks,
Pantytec,
Lalo Schifrin,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Scott Walker + Sunn O))),
Mr. Review,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
Quando Quango,
Yaz,
Hot Snakes,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Flipper,
Althea and Donna,
Sticky Fingaz feat. Raekwon,
the Slits,
Cymande,
Byron Stingily,
The Wake,
Donald Byrd,
Young Marble Giants,
Slave,
The Cowsills,
The Toasters,
Swans,
The Walker Brothers,
Swell Maps,
Brothers Johnson,
Altered Images,
D'Angelo,
The Divine Comedy,
Drive Like Jehu,
Davy DMX,
Franke,
Ajijia Myrayebe,
Traffic Nightmare,
MC5,
Todd Rundgren,
Jimmy McGriff,
Basic Channel,
Radiohead,
Newcleus,
Skaos,
X-102,
The Monochrome Set,
Ohio Players,
World's Most,
Roxette,
Maurizio,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
One Last Wish,
Trumans Water,
Dennis Brown,
Rekid,
Skriet,
Flash Fearless,
Terry Callier,
Throbbing Gristle,
Liliput, Liliput, Liliput, Liliput.
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.