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 St Lucia and from Manchester.
But I was there.
I was there in 1983.
I was there at the first Lewis show in Vancouver.
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 1963 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Delhi and Columbus.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Bremen 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 1980 at the first Cybotron practice in a loft in Detroit.
I was working on the synthesizer sounds with much patience.
I was there when Captain Beefheart 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 Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark to the funk 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 Idris Muhammad. All the underground hits.
All A Flock of Seagulls tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Girls At Our Best! 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 '70s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying an arpeggiator and a spring reverb and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Deadbeat record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
June Days,
Avey Tare,
Gil Scott Heron,
Bronski Beat,
Aaron Thompson,
The Birthday Party,
Audionom,
The Litter,
Gregory Isaacs,
Blancmange,
Reuben Wilson,
Tom Boy,
A Certain Ratio,
Main Source,
Danielle Patucci,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
10cc,
Derrick May,
Ossler,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Jerry Gold Smith,
Agent Orange,
Flamin' Groovies,
Bad Manners,
Soulsonic Force,
Notorious Big And Bone Thugs,
Niagra,
Loose Ends,
Lightning Bolt,
The New Christs,
Arcadia,
Marshall Jefferson,
Harmonia,
The Smiths,
Echospace,
Tres Demented,
Wings,
Soft Cell,
Girls At Our Best!,
The Detroit Cobras,
Babytalk,
Don Cherry,
Half Japanese,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Thompson Twins,
Slick Rick,
Bootsy's Rubber Band,
Janne Schatter,
The Dirtbombs,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Surgeon,
Franke,
Yazoo,
Visage,
Bobby Womack,
Sexual Harrassment,
Dual Sessions,
Gichy Dan,
Soul II Soul, Soul II Soul, Soul II Soul, Soul II Soul.
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.