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 Costa Rica and from Mumbai.
But I was there.
I was there in 1970.
I was there at the first Onyeabor show in Enugu.
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 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Copenhagen and Sao Paulo.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Portland 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 1976 at the first Buzzcocks practice in a loft in Bolton.
I was working on the spring reverb sounds with much patience.
I was there when David Bowie 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 Livin' Joy to the crunk kids.
I played it at the Spitz.
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 Darondo. All the underground hits.
All Moss Icon tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Barclay James Harvest 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 '90s.
I hear you're buying an arpeggiator and a theremin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Cabaret Voltaire record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought a linndrum.
I hear that you and your band have sold your linndrum and bought a sitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
MDC,
Outsiders,
Arab on Radar,
Lalo Schifrin,
Arthur Verocai,
Eric Copeland,
Grey Daturas,
The Moody Blues,
Susan Cadogan,
AZ,
The Shadows of Knight,
Ludus,
John Foxx,
EPMD,
The Blackbyrds,
The Electric Prunes,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
The Buckinghams,
Supertramp,
Public Image Ltd.,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
Tomorrow,
The Index,
Eddi Front,
Echospace,
Sex Pistols,
Eric B and Rakim,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
Eve St. Jones,
Howard Jones,
Rufus Thomas,
The Selecter,
Lightning Bolt,
Soul Sonic Force,
Gang of Four,
The Young Rascals,
Marcia Griffiths,
Nick Fraelich,
Jacques Brel,
Black Sheep,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
Popol Vuh,
Ken Boothe,
Lower 48,
Stiv Bators,
John Cale,
Michelle Simonal,
Cluster,
Ash Ra Tempel,
The Misunderstood,
The Count Five,
10cc,
The Moleskins,
The Kinks,
Surgeon,
Soul II Soul,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Eric Dolphy,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
Fear,
R.M.O., R.M.O., R.M.O., R.M.O..
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.