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 Cuba and from Shanghai.
But I was there.
I was there in 1976.
I was there at the first Wire show in Watford.
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 1966 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Toronto and Glasgow.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Hong Kong 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 1970 at the first Onyeabor practice in a loft in Enugu.
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 the Soft Cell to the grunge 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 Public Enemy. All the underground hits.
All The Red Krayola tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Tres Demented 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 '70s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a sitar and a synthesizer and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The United States of America record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought an oboe.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a sitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Radio Birdman,
Nick Fraelich,
Mantronix,
Fluxion,
10cc,
Sister Nancy,
Panda Bear,
Johnny Clarke,
Roy Ayers,
Eli Mardock,
The Fugs,
Pussy Galore,
A Certain Ratio,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Flamin' Groovies,
The Invisible,
Ultimate Spinach,
Lungfish,
the Human League,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Heaven 17,
Monolake,
Radiopuhelimet,
Derrick Morgan,
The Smiths,
Nation of Ulysses,
Lakeside,
Soulsonic Force,
Al Stewart,
The Slackers,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
Sun Ra,
Sun City Girls,
The Residents,
Hasil Adkins,
Ornette Coleman,
The Walker Brothers,
Sandy B,
Siglo XX,
Amon Düül,
Eyeless In Gaza,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
Max Romeo,
Desert Stars,
Camron Feat. Memphis Bleek And Beenie Seigel,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Excepter,
Johnny Osbourne,
New York Dolls,
Andrew Hill,
8 Eyed Spy,
The Blues Magoos,
London Community Gospel Choir,
The Misunderstood,
Alphaville,
Bush Tetras,
The Grass Roots,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Stockholm Monsters,
The Chocolate Watch Band, The Chocolate Watch Band, The Chocolate Watch Band, The Chocolate Watch Band.
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.