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 Israel and from Philadelphia.
But I was there.
I was there in 1984.
I was there at the first Arcadia show in London.
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 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Bologna and Paris.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Winnipeg 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 1970 at the first Onyeabor practice in a loft in Enugu.
I was working on the marimba 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 Erasure to the rap kids.
I played it at the Roxy.
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 Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx. All the underground hits.
All T.S.O.L. tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Motions 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 '80s.
I hear you're buying a theremin and an oboe and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Ronan record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a sitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought a marimba.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Bill Wells,
The Fire Engines,
Little Man,
The Chocolate Watch Band,
Nick Fraelich,
Eve St. Jones,
June Days,
Sun Ra,
Moss Icon,
Alton Ellis,
Reuben Wilson,
Darondo,
Hoover,
The Star Department,
8 Eyed Spy,
Howard Jones,
Lungfish,
Aswad,
David Bowie,
Livin' Joy,
Cluster,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
Audionom,
The Tremeloes,
Average White Band,
The Searchers,
Excepter,
Marmalade,
Loose Ends,
The Slits,
Amon Düül,
Lindisfarne,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
Nils Olav,
Pussy Galore,
Gastr Del Sol,
Joensuu 1685,
Adolescents,
Von Mondo,
LL Cool J,
DNA,
F. McDonald,
The Smiths,
Agitation Free,
Maleditus Sound,
Tim Buckley,
Joy Division,
Jeru the Damaja,
Nas,
The Men They Couldn't Hang,
Infiniti,
Sticky Fingaz feat. Raekwon,
Michelle Simonal,
La Düsseldorf,
John Holt,
Chris Corsano,
The Associates,
Fort Wilson Riot,
Minutemen,
Public Enemy,
Yaz,
The Cowsills,
Steve Hackett, Steve Hackett, Steve Hackett, Steve Hackett.
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.