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 Finland and from Mumbai.
But I was there.
I was there in 1971.
I was there at the first Neu! show in Düsseldorf.
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 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Beijing and Milan.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Cairo 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 clarinet sounds with much patience.
I was there when Michael McDonald 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 crunk 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 The Fortunes. All the underground hits.
All Aaron Thompson tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Sight & Sound 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 '70s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a snare and a linndrum and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Nation of Ulysses record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a spring reverb.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought a guitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Scrapy,
Magma,
Roxy Music,
Leonard Cohen,
Ultravox,
Black Sheep,
The Selecter,
Tom Boy,
The Cowsills,
June Days,
Soul II Soul,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Ken Boothe,
Malaria!,
Basic Channel,
Television Personalities,
Gabor Szabo,
Robert Hood,
Skarface,
DeepChord presents Echospace,
Byron Stingily,
Amon Düül,
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282,
Crooked Eye,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
F. McDonald,
Rhythm & Sound,
Fela Kuti,
Slave,
Sound Behaviour,
the Normal,
Deakin,
Toni Rubio,
Gerry Rafferty,
Kurtis Blow,
Jeru the Damaja,
The Fire Engines,
Minor Threat,
Aswad,
Reagan Youth,
In Retrospect,
Newcleus,
Monolake,
Kerrie Biddell,
The Dead C,
Main Source,
Flipper,
Jawbox,
The Smoke,
PIL,
Wasted Youth,
Chris & Cosey,
A Certain Ratio,
The Techniques,
Deepchord,
Peter & Gordon,
Archie Shepp,
Talk Talk,
Mandrill,
Nation of Ulysses,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
John Cale, John Cale, John Cale, John Cale.
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.