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 Luxembourg and from Beijing.
But I was there.
I was there in 1979.
I was there at the first Josef K show in Edinburgh.
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 1965 to 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Milan and Jakarta.
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 Lewis practice in a loft in Vancouver.
I was working on the 808 sounds with much patience.
I was there when Donald Fagen 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 Rotary Connection 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 The Star Department. All the underground hits.
All Toni Rubio tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Arcadia record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal crunk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a synthesizer and a harpsichord and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Drive Like Jehu record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Tommy Roe,
Scrapy,
Gichy Dan,
Lee Hazlewood,
Letta Mbulu,
Gang Starr,
The Flesh Eaters,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Lalann,
Blossom Toes,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
Guru Guru,
Cecil Taylor,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
Country Joe & The Fish,
Minutemen,
Thompson Twins,
Stetsasonic,
Qualms,
Traffic Nightmare,
Con Funk Shun,
Fad Gadget,
Harry Pussy,
Andrew Hill,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
Piero Umiliani,
Goldenarms,
Make Up,
Mad Mike,
Nik Kershaw,
The Sound,
Davy DMX,
Faraquet,
The Beau Brummels,
Dual Sessions,
AZ,
Buzzcocks,
Bang On A Can,
Aaron Thompson,
The Misunderstood,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
John Foxx,
Lou Reed,
Audionom,
The Selecter,
Eric Copeland,
Das Ding,
Wings,
Fatback Band,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Mo-Dettes,
Scott Walker,
The Men They Couldn't Hang,
Crispy Ambulance,
The Raincoats,
Lungfish,
The United States of America,
Magazine,
Boredoms, Boredoms, Boredoms, Boredoms.
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.