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 Bolivia and from Johannesburg.
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 1967 to 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Hong Kong and Taipei.
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 1979 at the first Second Layer practice in a loft in South London.
I was working on the mellotron 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 Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth 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 The New Christs. All the underground hits.
All Amon Düül tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Jandek 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 '70s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a 808 and a mellotron and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Dawn Penn record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought an organ.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a harpsichord.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Mars,
Gang Gang Dance,
Sun City Girls,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
The Move,
Gichy Dan,
Terrestrial Tones,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
Outsiders,
New Order,
Popol Vuh,
June Days,
Deakin,
Soul Sonic Force,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Don Cherry,
Animal Collective,
Ludus,
Robert Hood,
The Detroit Cobras,
The Sound,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Vainqueur,
Ralphi Rosario,
Prince Buster,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
Carl Craig,
Tres Demented,
Colin Newman,
Kaleidoscope,
EPMD,
Mandrill,
Wighnomy Brothers & Robag Wruhme,
Faust,
Unrelated Segments,
Scratch Acid,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
X-101,
Eurythmics,
Graham Central Station,
Infiniti,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
Aural Exciters,
the Human League,
Buzzcocks,
Youth Brigade,
Rufus Thomas,
Guru Guru,
Eve St. Jones,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Coldchain, Rosco P., Featuring Pusha T from Clipse & Boo-Bonic,
Joe Smooth,
Eden Ahbez,
Desert Stars,
Model 500,
Anakelly,
Brick,
The Star Department,
The Mighty Diamonds,
Bobby Byrd,
Cecil Taylor, Cecil Taylor, Cecil Taylor, Cecil Taylor.
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.