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 Lesotho and from Mexico City.
But I was there.
I was there in 1977.
I was there at the first Human League show in Sheffield.
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 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Hong Kong and Houston.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Toronto 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 1984 at the first Arcadia practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the chamberlin 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 Basic Channel to the grime 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 CMW. All the underground hits.
All Ten City 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 grunge hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a clarinet and a theremin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Colin Newman record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a chamberlin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought an oboe.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Beau Brummels,
Super Lover Cee & Casanova Rud,
Byron Stingily,
Bobby Womack,
Agitation Free,
Lindisfarne,
Trumans Water,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
Rosa Yemen,
T.S.O.L.,
The Blues Magoos,
Gastr Del Sol,
U.S. Maple,
Stetsasonic,
D'Angelo,
The Evens,
Todd Rundgren,
Kurtis Blow,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
T. Rex,
Art Ensemble Of Chicago,
John Cale,
Deakin,
Jandek,
Ornette Coleman,
Soft Machine,
Pere Ubu,
Altered Images,
Bang On A Can,
The Cramps,
Cal Tjader,
Flamin' Groovies,
Isaac Hayes,
The Vogues,
Alice Coltrane,
Brass Construction,
Popol Vuh,
Junior Murvin,
Y Pants,
Patti Smith,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Jesper Dahlbäck,
Aural Exciters,
New Age Steppers,
Gang Starr,
F. McDonald,
Colin Newman,
Nik Kershaw,
Minutemen,
Althea and Donna,
Erykah Badu,
Leonard Cohen,
The Human League,
Frankie Knuckles,
The Five Americans,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Thee Headcoats,
Judy Mowatt,
Desert Stars,
Gregory Isaacs,
Lungfish,
Infiniti,
Cheater Slicks, Cheater Slicks, Cheater Slicks, Cheater Slicks.
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.