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 Tuvalu and from Manchester.
But I was there.
I was there in 1965.
I was there at the first Beefheart show in Lancaster.
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 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Bologna and Stockholm.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Tokyo 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 1977 at the first Human League practice in a loft in Sheffield.
I was working on the clarinet sounds with much patience.
I was there when Michael McDonald 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 Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft to the punk kids.
I played it at CBGB's.
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 Justin Hinds & The Dominoes. All the underground hits.
All Lebanon Hanover tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Joy Division record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grunge 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 clarinet and a chamberlin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Barrington Levy record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a marimba.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Eric B and Rakim,
The Motions,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
Spandau Ballet,
Hashim,
The Fall,
Curtis Mayfield,
Sonny Sharrock,
Cameo,
Janne Schatter,
Alice Coltrane,
Henry Cow,
Reuben Wilson,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Depeche Mode,
Chris & Cosey,
Trumans Water,
The Remains,
Mo-Dettes,
Harry Pussy,
The Cosmic Jokers,
James White and The Blacks,
Ajijia Myrayebe,
June Days,
Faust,
The Birthday Party,
Marine Girls,
Bill Wells,
Yaz,
DJ Sneak,
Porter Ricks,
Lou Reed,
The Index,
Pet Shop Boys,
Albert Ayler,
Tim Buckley,
Sun Ra,
Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Bang On A Can,
Lungfish,
UT,
Young Marble Giants,
Radiohead,
Deakin,
The Dave Clark Five,
Suburban Knight,
Reagan Youth,
Bootsy's Rubber Band,
La Düsseldorf,
The Leaves,
Nirvana,
Black Sheep,
Magma,
Boogie Down Productions,
10cc,
Flash Fearless,
Jandek,
The Misunderstood,
The Residents,
Toni Rubio,
Black Flag, Black Flag, Black Flag, Black Flag.
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.