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 Grenada and from Philadelphia.
But I was there.
I was there in 1970.
I was there at the first Onyeabor show in Enugu.
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 1964 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in London and Edmonton.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Accra 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 Wire practice in a loft in Watford.
I was working on the clarinet sounds with much patience.
I was there when Lou Reed 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 Au Pairs to the grime kids.
I played it at Cafe Wha.
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 Bizarre Inc.. All the underground hits.
All Ultravox tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Last Poets record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal techno hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a mellotron and a marimba and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Pagans record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a linndrum.
I hear that you and your band have sold your linndrum and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Toni Rubio,
K-Klass,
the Soft Cell,
X-102,
Grauzone,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
Neu!,
Kaleidoscope,
The Raincoats,
Warsaw,
Aural Exciters,
Anthony Braxton,
Thee Headcoats,
Livin' Joy,
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
Amon Düül II,
New Order,
Donny Hathaway,
David Bowie,
Joy Division,
June Days,
Brothers Johnson,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Agitation Free,
Bizarre Inc.,
Monolake,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Kas Product,
Adolescents,
Bauhaus,
Gregory Isaacs,
Dead Boys,
Eyeless In Gaza,
T.S.O.L.,
MDC,
Gong,
Symarip,
Davy DMX,
Johnny Clarke,
Maleditus Sound,
Roger Hodgson,
Yusef Lateef,
Amon Düül,
Funky Four + One,
Fat Boys,
Japan,
Chris & Cosey,
Sarah Menescal,
Cheater Slicks,
Yellowson,
Joe Finger,
Groovy Waters,
Depeche Mode,
Bobbi Humphrey,
The Alarm Clocks,
The Move,
Dark Day,
Sonny Sharrock,
Index,
The Cure,
The Birthday Party,
Pole, Pole, Pole, Pole.
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.