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 Kuwait and from Winnipeg.
But I was there.
I was there in 1971.
I was there at the first Big Star show in Memphis.
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 1969 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Paris and Madrid.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lyon 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 808 sounds with much patience.
I was there when Donald Fagen 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 Oblivians to the grime 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 Agitation Free. All the underground hits.
All Throbbing Gristle tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every New Age Steppers 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 '80s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a chamberlin and a mellotron and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Bang on a Can All-Stars record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought an organ.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Detroit Cobras,
Television,
Henry Cow,
H. Thieme,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Gang Green,
Babytalk,
Desert Stars,
Depeche Mode,
Lalann,
Little Man,
The Fugs,
Cybotron,
The United States of America,
OOIOO,
Yazoo,
The Invisible,
cv313,
10cc,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
Crooked Eye,
Lyres,
Swans,
Joey Negro,
Arcadia,
The Seeds,
Lou Christie,
Scratch Acid,
Aural Exciters,
The Human League,
Fluxion,
Grey Daturas,
The Dead C,
Slave,
June Days,
Eric B and Rakim,
Audionom,
X-102,
Barrington Levy,
Liliput,
Jerry Gold Smith,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
The Raincoats,
Terror Squad Feat. Camron,
Matthew Halsall,
Yellowson,
Curtis Mayfield,
Unwound,
Procol Harum,
The Zeros,
Eddi Front,
Massinfluence,
Amon Düül,
Minny Pops,
Moss Icon,
Peter & Gordon,
Cal Tjader,
Bobby Hutcherson,
the Soft Cell, the Soft Cell, the Soft Cell, the Soft Cell.
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.