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 Vietnam and from Lille.
But I was there.
I was there in 1979.
I was there at the first Josef K show in Edinburgh.
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 1962 to 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lagos and Shanghai.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Toronto 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 Can practice in a loft in Cologne.
I was working on the spring reverb sounds with much patience.
I was there when Tom Verlaine 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 Johnny Osbourne to the crunk kids.
I played it at the 40 Watt.
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 MDC. All the underground hits.
All Fela Kuti tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Remains 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 '90s.
I hear you're buying a 808 and a sitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Buckinghams record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a synthesizer.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Robert Wyatt,
Sound Behaviour,
The Seeds,
DJ Sneak,
Pulsallama,
World's Most,
The Durutti Column,
the Soft Cell,
Severed Heads,
New Order,
Mandrill,
Das Ding,
The Zeros,
Mars,
The Gories,
KRS-One,
Robert Görl,
Amon Düül,
Mary Jane Girls,
Ludus,
B.T. Express,
Tres Demented,
Fela Kuti,
Erykah Badu,
Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu,
The Young Rascals,
Niagra,
Au Pairs,
Idris Muhammad,
Model 500,
Sugar Minott,
Newcleus,
Avey Tare,
Blancmange,
Quantec,
The Smiths,
Black Moon,
Bobby Hutcherson,
Arcadia,
Deakin,
Agitation Free,
Unrelated Segments,
Nick Fraelich,
Guru Guru,
The Divine Comedy,
Josef K,
the Human League,
Fort Wilson Riot,
Index,
The United States of America,
Magma,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Yaz,
A Flock of Seagulls,
Flamin' Groovies,
Ultra Naté,
Pharoah Sanders,
Malaria!,
Harmonia,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Lyres,
Faust,
Pere Ubu, Pere Ubu, Pere Ubu, Pere Ubu.
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.