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 Equatorial Guinea and from Lagos.
But I was there.
I was there in 1976.
I was there at the first Soft Boys show in Cambridge.
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 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Delhi and Toronto.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school London 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 1975 at the first Ubu practice in a loft in Cleveland.
I was working on the chamberlin sounds with much patience.
I was there when Holger Czukay 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 Larry & the Blue Notes to the electroclash kids.
I played it at the 40 Watt.
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 Barbara Tucker. All the underground hits.
All Marshall Jefferson tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every JFA record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rock hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a clarinet and a harpsichord and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Al Stewart record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your linndrum and bought a güiro.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a linndrum.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Dead Boys,
The Walker Brothers,
The Birthday Party,
Gang Starr,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Massinfluence,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Tim Buckley,
Barry Ungar,
Toni Rubio,
Spandau Ballet,
Harmonia,
The Victims,
Banda Bassotti,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
Ornette Coleman,
Nils Olav,
Juan Atkins,
Al Stewart,
Buzzcocks,
The Black Dice,
Bootsy Collins,
Pylon,
Rakim,
The Sonics,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Vladislav Delay,
Bronski Beat,
Glenn Branca,
The Skatalites,
Radiopuhelimet,
The Mojo Men,
The Saints,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
Ken Boothe,
X-102,
Marmalade,
Schoolly D,
Das Ding,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
The Shadows of Knight,
FM Einheit,
L. Decosne,
Pet Shop Boys,
Yazoo,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Albert Ayler,
The Gun Club,
Masters at Work,
Monks,
Quando Quango,
Audionom,
The Red Krayola,
The Five Americans,
Sly & The Family Stone,
Fela Kuti,
These Immortal Souls,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Angry Samoans,
Grey Daturas,
The Seeds, The Seeds, The Seeds, The Seeds.
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.