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 Monaco and from Lyon.
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 1966 to 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Glasgow and Halifax.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Cairo 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 1983 at the first Art of Noise practice in a loft in London.
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 Stiv Bators to the crunk 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 Fela Kuti. All the underground hits.
All David Bowie tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Bobbi Humphrey record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal punk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a marimba and a clarinet 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 mellotron and bought a 808.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a mellotron.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Colin Newman,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Sällskapet,
Funky Four + One,
Graham Central Station,
The Wake,
Tres Demented,
Reagan Youth,
Fluxion,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
John Foxx,
Tommy Roe,
Kerri Chandler,
The Fall,
Ken Boothe,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
Neu!,
Derrick Morgan,
Idris Muhammad,
Connie Case,
Tears for Fears,
The Tremeloes,
Symarip,
DeepChord presents Echospace,
Bootsy's Rubber Band,
The Knickerbockers,
Boogie Down Productions,
Nas,
X-101,
Charles Mingus,
The United States of America,
LL Cool J,
Wighnomy Brothers & Robag Wruhme,
Section 25,
The Busters,
Fat Boys,
Isaac Hayes,
Joe Finger,
Larry & the Blue Notes,
Rod Modell,
Darondo,
Pussy Galore,
Joey Negro,
Adolescents,
The Moody Blues,
Babytalk,
Icehouse,
Cal Tjader,
Sarah Menescal,
The Raincoats,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
Lyres,
Malaria!,
The Velvet Underground,
the Bar-Kays,
Frankie Knuckles,
Dawn Penn,
Don Cherry,
Juan Atkins,
Funkadelic,
F. McDonald,
Unwound,
One Last Wish,
The Techniques, The Techniques, The Techniques, The Techniques.
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.