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 Djibouti and from Tehran.
But I was there.
I was there in 1975.
I was there at the first Ubu show in Cleveland.
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 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Taipei and Glasgow.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Manchester 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 1971 at the first Big Star practice in a loft in Memphis.
I was working on the guitar 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 Dead Boys to the rock 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 the Germs. All the underground hits.
All Bronski Beat tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Kenny Larkin record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal disco 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 chamberlin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a 10cc record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought a harpsichord.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a sitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Brothers Johnson,
The Cosmic Jokers,
the Human League,
The Martian,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
Eli Mardock,
Lungfish,
In Retrospect,
Main Source,
kango's stein massive,
Bronski Beat,
Cabaret Voltaire,
The Smiths,
Bauhaus,
Delon & Dalcan,
Nick Fraelich,
The Angels of Light,
The Five Americans,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
The Motions,
The Index,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Ralphi Rosario,
Roxy Music,
Radio Birdman,
Guru Guru,
Sly & The Family Stone,
Minnie Riperton,
Colin Newman,
Albert Ayler,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
the Germs,
Kool Moe Dee,
John Cale,
The Tremeloes,
Radiopuhelimet,
Blossom Toes,
Howard Jones,
Warsaw,
Shuggie Otis,
The Men They Couldn't Hang,
Swans,
Wings,
Joy Division,
Agent Orange,
The Blackbyrds,
Mr. Review,
Peter & Gordon,
Lindisfarne,
Funky Four + One,
Rowland S Howard / Lydia Lunch,
The Selecter,
Bad Manners,
The Remains,
A Flock of Seagulls,
Ultra Naté,
Sun Ra,
Quando Quango,
Kerrie Biddell,
Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Prince Buster, Prince Buster, Prince Buster, Prince Buster.
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.