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 Hungary and from Edmonton.
But I was there.
I was there in 1976.
I was there at the first Wire show in Watford.
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 1968 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lille and Toronto.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Sao Paulo 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 güiro sounds with much patience.
I was there when Lou Reed 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 Jesper Dahlbäck to the grunge kids.
I played it at Trash.
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 Invisible. All the underground hits.
All Television Personalities tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Detroit Cobras record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal electroclash 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 808 and a sitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Bill Wells record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought an organ.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a guitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Henry Cow,
The Tremeloes,
Altered Images,
La Düsseldorf,
Agent Orange,
Todd Rundgren,
Aswad,
Con Funk Shun,
Godley & Creme,
Quantec,
The J.B.'s,
A Flock of Seagulls,
The Associates,
The Residents,
Cymande,
Gang of Four,
Youth Brigade,
The Dead C,
New Order,
Technova,
Young Marble Giants,
Sparks,
The Cramps,
The Gap Band,
The Mummies,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Rufus Thomas,
Funky Four + One,
Mark Hollis,
Deakin,
Alton Ellis,
Curtis Mayfield,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
Gong,
Fad Gadget,
The Techniques,
Ralphi Rosario,
Delta 5,
Radiohead,
8 Eyed Spy,
Archie Shepp,
Metal Thangz,
Robert Wyatt,
Man Eating Sloth,
The Modern Lovers,
The Slackers,
The Remains,
Pulsallama,
Colin Newman,
Terry Callier,
Flash Fearless,
Marmalade,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
The Fortunes,
Johnny Clarke,
Warren Ellis,
Panda Bear,
Peter and Kerry,
Swans,
The Blackbyrds,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Franke,
Bauhaus, Bauhaus, Bauhaus, Bauhaus.
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.