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 Burkina and from Bologna.
But I was there.
I was there in 1975.
I was there at the first Throbbing Gristle show in London.
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 1967 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Mumbai and Taipei.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Jakarta 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 Buzzcocks practice in a loft in Bolton.
I was working on the 808 sounds with much patience.
I was there when Robert Palmer 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 Ajijia Myrayebe to the disco kids.
I played it at the Roxy.
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 Andrew Hill. All the underground hits.
All Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Warsaw record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rap hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a spring reverb and a marimba and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Sonic Youth record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Max Romeo,
Dawn Penn,
The Gories,
The Leaves,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Stetsasonic,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
Easy Going,
The Searchers,
Au Pairs,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Cecil Taylor,
Kurtis Blow,
Faust,
Skriet,
This Heat,
Black Sheep,
La Düsseldorf,
Dead Boys,
Mark Hollis,
Roger Hodgson,
Little Man,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Idris Muhammad,
Supertramp,
Infiniti,
Rowland S Howard / Lydia Lunch,
Livin' Joy,
Spoonie Gee,
Kayak,
John Holt,
Susan Cadogan,
Barry Ungar,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Brick,
The Remains,
F. McDonald,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Parry Music,
Con Funk Shun,
Fifty Foot Hose,
Marine Girls,
Duran Duran,
The Fugs,
Ludus,
John Foxx,
The Blackbyrds,
the Human League,
Reuben Wilson,
Alice Coltrane,
Minor Threat,
Flamin' Groovies,
Connie Case,
Isaac Hayes,
The Buckinghams,
Alphaville,
James White and The Blacks,
Darondo,
Warsaw,
Tubeway Army,
Underground Resistance,
10cc,
Josef K, Josef K, Josef K, Josef K.
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.