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 Eritrea and from Shanghai.
But I was there.
I was there in 1977.
I was there at the first Human League show in Sheffield.
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 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Cairo and Bologna.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Taipei 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 chamberlin sounds with much patience.
I was there when Donald Fagen 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 Curtis Mayfield to the punk 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 Oneida. All the underground hits.
All Dead Boys tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Soft Cell record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grime hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a clarinet and an organ and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Fat Boys record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a synthesizer.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a harpsichord.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
The Knickerbockers,
Sister Nancy,
Boredoms,
Oneida,
Scan 7,
The Evens,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Brass Construction,
Eric B and Rakim,
Jandek,
Masters at Work,
Leonard Cohen,
Brothers Johnson,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
the Swans,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Hot Snakes,
Sight & Sound,
Heaven 17,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
Eve St. Jones,
Danielle Patucci,
The Music Machine,
Max Romeo,
The Smiths,
Rotary Connection,
John Coltrane,
Mars,
X-102,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Todd Rundgren,
The Sisters of Mercy,
The Count Five,
Soulsonic Force,
Saccharine Trust,
The Human League,
The Modern Lovers,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Alice Coltrane,
The Cramps,
Jimmy McGriff,
Sun City Girls,
June Days,
X-101,
Susan Cadogan,
Black Bananas,
Ponytail,
Thee Headcoats,
Beasts of Bourbon,
The Dirtbombs,
Crispy Ambulance,
Bluetip,
The Star Department,
The Stooges,
Bronski Beat,
Donald Byrd,
Mantronix,
Lindisfarne,
The Names,
Connie Case,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
Wally Richardson,
David Axelrod, David Axelrod, David Axelrod, David Axelrod.
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.