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 Botswana and from Philadelphia.
But I was there.
I was there in 1968.
I was there at the first Bowie show in Bromley.
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 1965 to 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Manila and Hong Kong.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Houston 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 1965 at the first Beefheart practice in a loft in Lancaster.
I was working on the spring reverb sounds with much patience.
I was there when Nile Rodgers 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 Soft Cell to the dance kids.
I played it at the 40 Watt.
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 Cal Tjader. All the underground hits.
All Dorothy Ashby tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Surgeon 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 '70s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a theremin and a güiro and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds 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?
Mark Hollis,
Fatback Band,
The Motions,
The Raincoats,
June of 44,
Unrelated Segments,
Mad Mike,
Camberwell Now,
Sexual Harrassment,
Young Marble Giants,
Delon & Dalcan,
Barrington Levy,
Susan Cadogan,
Sun City Girls,
Kayak,
Robert Görl,
48th St. Collective,
Can,
The Count Five,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
Subhumans,
The Standells,
10cc,
Mo-Dettes,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Marvin Gaye,
Ossler,
Public Image Ltd.,
The Cowsills,
Deadbeat,
The Cramps,
EPMD,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks,
Bootsy's Rubber Band,
Cecil Taylor,
Morten Harket,
Chris & Cosey,
DNA,
Ronnie Foster,
Ajijia Myrayebe,
Althea and Donna,
Minnie Riperton,
The Star Department,
Sandy B,
MC5,
MDC,
Traffic Nightmare,
ABBA,
Zapp,
Scott Walker,
Henry Cow,
Pet Shop Boys,
Todd Rundgren,
Iggy Pop,
The Stooges,
Dennis Brown,
F. McDonald,
A Flock of Seagulls,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Selector Dub Narcotic, Selector Dub Narcotic, Selector Dub Narcotic, Selector Dub Narcotic.
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.