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 Niger and from Salvador.
But I was there.
I was there in 1976.
I was there at the first Buzzcocks show in Bolton.
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 1965 to 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Shanghai and New York.
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 1968 at the first Bowie practice in a loft in Bromley.
I was working on the linndrum 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 Louis and Bebe Barron to the rock 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 A Flock of Seagulls. All the underground hits.
All Soul II Soul tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Selector Dub Narcotic record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal dance hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a güiro and a guitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Ronan record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Nation of Ulysses,
Scion,
The Martian,
Unwound,
Pere Ubu,
Bobby Hutcherson,
The Fall,
Laurel Aitken,
World's Most,
Freddie Wadling,
Sun City Girls,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
The Mojo Men,
The Monochrome Set,
Cal Tjader,
Rakim,
Judy Mowatt,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
Ohio Players,
Audionom,
Lalann,
Wings,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
Bill Near,
Tres Demented,
Stetsasonic,
Guru Guru,
Babytalk,
Electric Light Orchestra,
Gichy Dan,
Patti Smith,
Isaac Hayes,
Agent Orange,
The Angels of Light,
Brothers Johnson,
Buzzcocks,
John Foxx,
Television,
Black Pus,
Mission of Burma,
Crime,
Joe Smooth,
Kevin Saunderson,
Simply Red,
Siglo XX,
Danielle Patucci,
Rites of Spring,
Nirvana,
Pharoah Sanders,
Todd Rundgren,
The American Breed,
Drive Like Jehu,
a-ha,
Masters at Work,
Johnny Osbourne,
Rapeman,
Roger Hodgson,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
Sarah Menescal,
The Pretty Things,
Tears for Fears,
The United States of America,
Todd Terry,
Tom Boy, Tom Boy, Tom Boy, Tom Boy.
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.