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 Papua New Guinea and from Seoul.
But I was there.
I was there in 1975.
I was there at the first Ubu show in Cleveland.
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 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Spokane and Mexico City.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lagos 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 Bronski Beat practice in a loft in Brixton.
I was working on the organ 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 Electric Light Orchestra to the crunk kids.
I played it at the Astoria.
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 Cybotron. All the underground hits.
All Severed Heads tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Flesh Eaters record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rap hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a clarinet and a harpsichord and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a In Retrospect record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a spring reverb.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Throbbing Gristle,
Audionom,
Ronnie Foster,
The Birthday Party,
Man Eating Sloth,
The Monochrome Set,
Vainqueur,
the Fania All-Stars,
Lucky Dragons,
The Monks,
Lebanon Hanover,
Siglo XX,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Eli Mardock,
Soft Cell,
Joy Division,
Gabor Szabo,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Derrick May,
Chrome,
Tropical Tobacco,
Animal Collective,
The Dirtbombs,
This Heat,
Althea and Donna,
Hoover,
MC5,
Jerry's Kids,
Gastr Del Sol,
the Slits,
Mad Mike,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Cheater Slicks,
Qualms,
Fear,
Y Pants,
Tres Demented,
Monks,
Wire,
Rites of Spring,
Deepchord,
Cluster,
Chris & Cosey,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
Au Pairs,
Porter Ricks,
Rakim,
Zapp,
Dave Gahan,
Bobby Byrd,
Judy Mowatt,
Section 25,
Technova,
Silicon Teens,
Sister Nancy,
Quando Quango,
The Residents,
Bootsy Collins,
kango's stein massive,
Kevin Saunderson,
Alphaville, Alphaville, Alphaville, Alphaville.
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.