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 Copenhagen.
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 1961 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Calgary and Mexico City.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Mumbai 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 1976 at the first Feelies practice in a loft in Haledon.
I was working on the guitar sounds with much patience.
I was there when Captain Beefheart 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 Kings Of Tomorrow to the disco kids.
I played it at the Roxy.
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 Patti Smith. All the underground hits.
All The Busters tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Associates record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal funk 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 theremin and a 808 and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a James Chance & The Contortions record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a güiro.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
LL Cool J,
Minor Threat,
the Normal,
48th St. Collective,
Fluxion,
Yazoo,
The Vogues,
PIL,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
Ohio Players,
The Five Americans,
Technova,
L. Decosne,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Big Daddy Kane,
The Birthday Party,
Johnny Osbourne,
Underground Resistance,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Connie Case,
Barrington Levy,
Buzzcocks,
John Lydon,
Eric B and Rakim,
Tropical Tobacco,
One Last Wish,
Delon & Dalcan,
The Smoke,
Soulsonic Force,
Alphaville,
The Move,
Arthur Verocai,
The Grass Roots,
Rhythm & Sound,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Zapp,
Jesper Dahlback,
Ken Boothe,
Television Personalities,
James White and The Blacks,
Scott Walker + Sunn O))),
Angry Samoans,
The Divine Comedy,
Spoonie Gee,
Slick Rick,
The Skatalites,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Joyce Sims,
Spandau Ballet,
The Young Rascals,
Make Up,
Excepter,
Stereo Dub,
Darondo,
Blossom Toes,
Sound Behaviour,
Intrusion,
The Index,
Crash Course in Science,
The Raincoats, The Raincoats, The Raincoats, The Raincoats.
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.