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 Burundi and from Tokyo.
But I was there.
I was there in 1975.
I was there at the first Ubu show in Cleveland.
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 1961 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Accra and Spokane.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lagos 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 1979 at the first Josef K practice in a loft in Edinburgh.
I was working on the theremin sounds with much patience.
I was there when Captain Beefheart 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 Skarface to the punk 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 These Immortal Souls. All the underground hits.
All Susan Cadogan tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The American Breed record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal disco hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying an arpeggiator and a synthesizer and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Angels of Light record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a chamberlin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought a harpsichord.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
A Certain Ratio,
Lucky Dragons,
Jeru the Damaja,
Pantytec,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
Eyeless In Gaza,
Negative Approach,
Dual Sessions,
The Gories,
Joe Smooth,
The Detroit Cobras,
Rosa Yemen,
ABBA,
MC5,
Bauhaus,
Moebius,
cv313,
The Young Rascals,
Nils Olav,
Be Bop Deluxe,
Fatback Band,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
The Smiths,
Soft Cell,
Dawn Penn,
Icehouse,
Pere Ubu,
Rod Modell,
Babytalk,
Wighnomy Brothers & Robag Wruhme,
Wire,
The Moleskins,
Skaos,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Joe Finger,
Skriet,
FM Einheit,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Soul Sonic Force,
Camouflage,
Little Man,
Robert Görl,
the Bar-Kays,
The Red Krayola,
Matthew Halsall,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Bobby Hutcherson,
Boz Scaggs,
Oppenheimer Analysis,
Desert Stars,
Scion,
10cc,
Ultimate Spinach,
The Remains,
Black Moon,
Marine Girls,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Fat Boys,
Jacob Miller,
These Immortal Souls,
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.