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 Macedonia and from Manila.
But I was there.
I was there in 1984.
I was there at the first Arcadia 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 1963 to 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Johannesburg and Winnipeg.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Delhi 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 1968 at the first Can practice in a loft in Cologne.
I was working on the snare 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 Stereo Dub to the rock 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 Swell Maps. All the underground hits.
All E-Dancer tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Gil Scott Heron record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal funk 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 an arpeggiator and a clarinet and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Mark Hollis record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a snare.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a harpsichord.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Duran Duran,
The Blackbyrds,
Rekid,
The Happenings,
Radio Birdman,
The Skatalites,
cv313,
Average White Band,
Bill Wells,
Davy DMX,
Black Flag,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Big Daddy Kane,
Bobby Byrd,
Warsaw,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
Chris Corsano,
Buzzcocks,
Minor Threat,
Spoonie Gee,
June Days,
Tubeway Army,
Q and Not U,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Boogie Down Productions,
Josef K,
Gang of Four,
OOIOO,
Technova,
Yellowson,
Connie Case,
Peter & Gordon,
The Move,
Jimmy McGriff,
Smog,
The Neon Judgement,
Severed Heads,
The Fire Engines,
Supertramp,
Audionom,
Youth Brigade,
Radiohead,
Country Joe & The Fish,
Gang Gang Dance,
Unrelated Segments,
Cal Tjader,
Pantytec,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
Faust,
Bobby Sherman,
The Smoke,
ABBA,
Boz Scaggs,
Q65,
Outsiders,
Lou Reed,
One Last Wish,
The Doobie Brothers,
Gregory Isaacs,
F. McDonald,
Scientists, Scientists, Scientists, Scientists.
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.