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 Chile and from New York.
But I was there.
I was there in 1978.
I was there at the first Visage 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 1969 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Spokane and Accra.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Seoul 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 arpeggiator 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 Mr. Review to the techno 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 Alphaville. All the underground hits.
All Agent Orange tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Strawberry Alarm Clock record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal punk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a theremin and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Das Ding record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought a chamberlin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought a sitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Jeff Lynne,
Second Layer,
Fluxion,
Chris Corsano,
Mad Mike,
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282,
The Happenings,
the Soft Cell,
Jesper Dahlbäck,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Alton Ellis,
L. Decosne,
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
D'Angelo,
Eden Ahbez,
Eyeless In Gaza,
Swell Maps,
Nick Fraelich,
the Sonics,
Liliput,
A Flock of Seagulls,
The Chocolate Watch Band,
Suburban Knight,
Sällskapet,
Throbbing Gristle,
Crispy Ambulance,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Ornette Coleman,
The Dave Clark Five,
Eurythmics,
Von Mondo,
Todd Rundgren,
The Cure,
Moby Grape,
Slick Rick,
Easy Going,
Guru Guru,
Severed Heads,
Andrew Hill,
AZ,
Kas Product,
Idris Muhammad,
Gil Scott Heron,
Spoonie Gee,
Excepter,
Clear Light,
Lee Hazlewood,
Minny Pops,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
UT,
Fugazi,
Colin Newman,
Thee Headcoats,
Oneida,
Hardrive,
Lightning Bolt,
Harry Pussy,
the Swans,
Niagra,
Duran Duran,
Ronan,
Marc Almond,
Visage, Visage, Visage, Visage.
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.