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 South Africa and from Shanghai.
But I was there.
I was there in 1975.
I was there at the first Throbbing Gristle 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 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Halifax and Manchester.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lille 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 1978 at the first Visage practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the clarinet 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 Red Lorry Yellow Lorry to the grime 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 Johnny Clarke. All the underground hits.
All Soft Cell tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Slits 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 '60s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a snare and a rhodes and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a H. Thieme record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a harpsichord.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
James White and The Blacks,
Sexual Harrassment,
The Barracudas,
Silicon Teens,
Basic Channel,
Rhythm & Sound,
Joe Smooth,
Liliput,
Reuben Wilson,
Fela Kuti,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
These Immortal Souls,
Spoonie Gee,
Sun City Girls,
Hardrive,
Boz Scaggs,
U.S. Maple,
The Star Department,
Brass Construction,
Eric Copeland,
Model 500,
Mars,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Eli Mardock,
Susan Cadogan,
Mad Mike,
Ituana,
Barrington Levy,
Dennis Brown,
Eyeless In Gaza,
Pantaleimon,
Scion,
Bush Tetras,
The Divine Comedy,
World's Most,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
Eric Dolphy,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
The Raincoats,
The Knickerbockers,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
Bobbi Humphrey,
Dawn Penn,
Lalo Schifrin,
Rotary Connection,
Sight & Sound,
Sparks,
Prince Buster,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Radiopuhelimet,
Darondo,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Todd Terry,
Rakim,
Bobby Hutcherson,
Frankie Knuckles,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Sister Nancy,
The Fugs,
Dark Day,
E-Dancer,
Robert Wyatt, Robert Wyatt, Robert Wyatt, Robert Wyatt.
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.