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 Thailand and from Madrid.
But I was there.
I was there in 1983.
I was there at the first Art of Noise 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 1960 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in New York and Madrid.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Columbus 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 Manfred Mann's Earth Band to the rap 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 Flesh Eaters. All the underground hits.
All Toni Rubio tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Rapeman record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal jazz hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a mellotron and a 808 and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Soft Machine record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a güiro.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
The Standells,
The Selecter,
Big Daddy Kane,
The Toasters,
Accadde A,
Gang Starr,
DNA,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Jeru the Damaja,
Unwound,
Amon Düül II,
Ultravox,
Piero Umiliani,
The Electric Prunes,
Shoche,
Man Parrish,
Deadbeat,
The Cramps,
Wasted Youth,
The Birthday Party,
The Leaves,
Eurythmics,
Bobby Womack,
cv313,
Charles Mingus,
the Soft Cell,
Niagra,
Rhythm & Sound,
ABBA,
Soft Cell,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Fluxion,
Josef K,
Hot Snakes,
The New Christs,
Average White Band,
LL Cool J,
Electric Prunes,
Newcleus,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
Liliput,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
David McCallum,
Marcia Griffiths,
Juan Atkins,
Godley & Creme,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Eric B and Rakim,
Joe Finger,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
Faust,
Ralphi Rosario,
Slick Rick,
Bill Wells,
Mad Mike,
Joe Smooth,
Gil Scott Heron,
Magazine,
Hardrive,
Barclay James Harvest,
Agitation Free, Agitation Free, Agitation Free, Agitation Free.
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.