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 Taiwan and from Woodstock.
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 1962 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Manchester and Lagos.
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 1983 at the first Art of Noise practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the snare 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 The Gun Club to the electroclash kids.
I played it at CBGB's.
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 Zeros. All the underground hits.
All Siouxsie and the Banshees tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Bluetip record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grime hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a mellotron and a spring reverb and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Alice Coltrane record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your linndrum and bought a harpsichord.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a linndrum.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Fort Wilson Riot,
Japan,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Terry Callier,
Gang Gang Dance,
The Invisible,
Barry Ungar,
Scott Walker,
The Buckinghams,
T.S.O.L.,
D'Angelo,
Brothers Johnson,
Shoche,
T. Rex,
Deadbeat,
Intrusion,
London Community Gospel Choir,
June Days,
Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu,
Deakin,
The Moleskins,
Godley & Creme,
Dead Boys,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Hashim,
Aural Exciters,
Tropical Tobacco,
Henry Cow,
Soul Sonic Force,
Ultra Naté,
Derrick May,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
The New Christs,
The Modern Lovers,
Make Up,
Skaos,
EPMD,
Royal Trux,
Pussy Galore,
The Mighty Diamonds,
CMW,
The Martian,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
The Selecter,
Howard Jones,
Thompson Twins,
LL Cool J,
Freddie Wadling,
Patti Smith,
Colin Newman,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
DJ Style,
The Misunderstood,
Minutemen,
Los Fastidios,
Crispian St. Peters,
Dual Sessions,
Symarip,
The Gladiators,
Chrome,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Matthew Halsall,
Lindisfarne, Lindisfarne, Lindisfarne, Lindisfarne.
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.