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 Gambia and from Mumbai.
But I was there.
I was there in 1984.
I was there at the first Arcadia 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 1969 to 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Manchester and Lagos.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Bologna 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 1977 at the first Human League practice in a loft in Sheffield.
I was working on the guitar sounds with much patience.
I was there when Nile Rodgers 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 Bang on a Can All-Stars to the funk kids.
I played it at CBGB's.
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 Beau Brummels. All the underground hits.
All Michelle Simonal tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Faust record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rock hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a theremin and a güiro and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The United States of America record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a chamberlin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought a güiro.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Patti Smith,
Reuben Wilson,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Selector Dub Narcotic,
Make Up,
Unrelated Segments,
Jandek,
Roger Hodgson,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Derrick Morgan,
MDC,
Roy Ayers,
The Move,
Goldenarms,
London Community Gospel Choir,
Pierre Henry,
Jesper Dahlbäck,
Intrusion,
Drive Like Jehu,
Gong,
Peter & Gordon,
Arcadia,
Bob Dylan,
The Electric Prunes,
Mars,
The Wake,
Chrome,
The Young Rascals,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
The Associates,
Ajijia Myrayebe,
Andrew Hill,
R.M.O.,
cv313,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
Tomorrow,
The Dirtbombs,
Darondo,
David Axelrod,
Animal Collective,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Skaos,
Alice Coltrane,
Scion,
Saccharine Trust,
Thee Headcoats,
Rapeman,
Glenn Branca,
Morten Harket,
Ludus,
Second Layer,
Whodini,
H. Thieme,
Oneida,
Wolf Eyes,
Bootsy's Rubber Band,
Charles Mingus,
Y Pants,
Minnie Riperton,
Pussy Galore,
Au Pairs, Au Pairs, Au Pairs, Au Pairs.
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.