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 Cape Verde and from Mexico City.
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 1966 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Shanghai and New York.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Stockholm 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 Soft Boys practice in a loft in Cambridge.
I was working on the oboe 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 Harry Pussy to the rock kids.
I played it at the Spitz.
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 Pop Group. All the underground hits.
All David Bowie tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Rakim record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grunge 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 harpsichord and a guitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Slackers record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Quando Quango,
Vainqueur,
Tubeway Army,
Sixth Finger,
Arab on Radar,
Sonic Youth,
Metal Thangz,
Tears for Fears,
The Invisible,
Zero Boys,
Sällskapet,
Sight & Sound,
Camouflage,
Au Pairs,
Los Fastidios,
Section 25,
Flamin' Groovies,
Eurythmics,
The Toasters,
Ronan,
Thompson Twins,
Deakin,
The Slits,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
Derrick Morgan,
X-101,
U.S. Maple,
Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu,
Scrapy,
The American Breed,
Avey Tare,
Ludus,
The Fugs,
Marc Almond,
Mandrill,
Tropical Tobacco,
Public Image Ltd.,
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks,
Joey Negro,
Nik Kershaw,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Sister Nancy,
Qualms,
Loose Ends,
Ornette Coleman,
The Offenders,
Dave Gahan,
Chris & Cosey,
Pierre Henry,
the Germs,
The Real Kids,
Fort Wilson Riot,
Roger Hodgson,
Warsaw,
Nils Olav,
Siglo XX,
The Sound,
The Detroit Cobras,
Unwound,
Slick Rick,
The Saints,
Reagan Youth, Reagan Youth, Reagan Youth, Reagan Youth.
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.