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 Malawi and from Tehran.
But I was there.
I was there in 1977.
I was there at the first Zapp show in Hamilton.
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 1964 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Manila and Accra.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Accra 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 Feelies practice in a loft in Haledon.
I was working on the güiro sounds with much patience.
I was there when Robert Palmer 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 Urselle 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 Kerrie Biddell. All the underground hits.
All Peter & Gordon tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Au Pairs record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal electroclash hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a chamberlin and a linndrum and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Brass Construction record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought an organ.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Rowland S Howard / Lydia Lunch,
ABBA,
New York Dolls,
The Moleskins,
Hasil Adkins,
Arthur Verocai,
Loose Ends,
Thompson Twins,
Bobby Womack,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
The Five Americans,
Kerrie Biddell,
Skriet,
The Gories,
Television Personalities,
Negative Approach,
Barclay James Harvest,
Gang of Four,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Gil Scott Heron,
Nico,
Icehouse,
Fear,
Hot Snakes,
Terry Callier,
Khruangbin,
Marc Almond,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
Trumans Water,
Cecil Taylor,
The Move,
Das Ding,
Man Eating Sloth,
Grandmaster Flash,
The Slits,
Notorious BIG live in Amsterdam,
Bob Dylan,
The Happenings,
The Martian,
World's Most,
The Flesh Eaters,
Wally Richardson,
Gian Franco Pienzio,
Fatback Band,
Kool Moe Dee,
X-102,
Black Moon,
Lightning Bolt,
Intrusion,
Livin' Joy,
Dual Sessions,
Ohio Players,
Pharoah Sanders,
X-101,
Bootsy Collins,
Jimmy McGriff,
Moby Grape,
Marmalade,
Alphaville,
Vladislav Delay,
Blancmange,
Letta Mbulu, Letta Mbulu, Letta Mbulu, Letta Mbulu.
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.