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 St Kitts & Nevis and from Beijing.
But I was there.
I was there in 1977.
I was there at the first Human League show in Sheffield.
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 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Halifax and Paris.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Shanghai 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 1983 at the first Art of Noise practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the snare sounds with much patience.
I was there when Lou Reed 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 Derrick Morgan to the grime kids.
I played it at Trash.
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 Alison Limerick. All the underground hits.
All Archie Shepp tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Alton Ellis record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal dance hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a spring reverb and a theremin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Last Poets record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a guitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Blues Magoos,
Michelle Simonal,
Ornette Coleman,
Max Romeo,
Glenn Branca,
Wasted Youth,
Con Funk Shun,
Warren Ellis,
The Grass Roots,
The Slits,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
Accadde A,
Throbbing Gristle,
Susan Cadogan,
Chris & Cosey,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
The Offenders,
Arab on Radar,
Intrusion,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
Black Bananas,
Eddi Front,
Neu!,
Kerri Chandler,
Wire,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Parry Music,
a-ha,
The Selecter,
Echospace,
Brand Nubian,
Fad Gadget,
The Red Krayola,
MDC,
Gang Gang Dance,
Ultravox,
The Star Department,
Dead Boys,
Scrapy,
Shuggie Otis,
Soul Sonic Force,
Harry Pussy,
The Doobie Brothers,
B.T. Express,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
Ajijia Myrayebe,
Frankie Knuckles,
Groovy Waters,
Eve St. Jones,
Magma,
Darondo,
The Knickerbockers,
Gichy Dan,
Gang of Four,
Vladislav Delay,
Suicide, Suicide, Suicide, Suicide.
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.