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 Saudi Arabia and from Manila.
But I was there.
I was there in 1976.
I was there at the first Wire show in Watford.
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 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Jakarta and Madrid.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Calgary 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 1987 at the first Nirvana practice in a loft in Seattle.
I was working on the harpsichord sounds with much patience.
I was there when Lou Reed 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 Bizarre Inc. to the jazz kids.
I played it at the Troubador.
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 Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. All the underground hits.
All Eli Mardock tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Sarah Menescal record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal funk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying an arpeggiator and a 808 and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Howard Jones record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a spring reverb.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Electric Prunes,
Bluetip,
Ultimate Spinach,
Freddie Wadling,
Tres Demented,
the Fania All-Stars,
Amon Düül II,
8 Eyed Spy,
Glenn Branca,
Prince Buster,
Nik Kershaw,
Nick Fraelich,
These Immortal Souls,
The Music Machine,
Iggy Pop,
Traffic Nightmare,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
Robert Görl,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
Sonic Youth,
Animal Collective,
Cheater Slicks,
Angry Samoans,
Lucky Dragons,
Juan Atkins,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Letta Mbulu,
New Order,
Jandek,
The Grass Roots,
London Community Gospel Choir,
Rekid,
Suburban Knight,
Morten Harket,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Soul Sonic Force,
The Dave Clark Five,
Susan Cadogan,
the Slits,
Bobby Sherman,
Marshall Jefferson,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Harry Pussy,
Oblivians,
Main Source,
Super Lover Cee & Casanova Rud,
The Mighty Diamonds,
Hoover,
Minnie Riperton,
Joyce Sims,
Big Daddy Kane,
Moebius,
Roxette,
The Residents,
Duran Duran,
D'Angelo,
The Stooges, The Stooges, The Stooges, The Stooges.
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.