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 Sierra Leone and from Beijing.
But I was there.
I was there in 1979.
I was there at the first Josef K show in Edinburgh.
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 1961 to 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Johannesburg and Manchester.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Glasgow 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 1975 at the first Ubu practice in a loft in Cleveland.
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 The Star Department to the disco kids.
I played it at the Hacienda.
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 John Coltrane. All the underground hits.
All Cluster tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Quadrant 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 '80s.
I hear you're buying an arpeggiator and an oboe 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 snare and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Last Poets,
Nik Kershaw,
Qualms,
Minnie Riperton,
Lalann,
D'Angelo,
Ultimate Spinach,
Subhumans,
Bobby Hutcherson,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
Rhythm & Sound,
Index,
Bobby Sherman,
Shoche,
In Retrospect,
Average White Band,
Von Mondo,
Soul Sonic Force,
Second Layer,
The Martian,
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band,
The Index,
The Young Rascals,
Josef K,
The Alarm Clocks,
Quando Quango,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
Mandrill,
Cal Tjader,
Joensuu 1685,
Jacob Miller,
Scion,
Ultra Naté,
Neu!,
Yellowson,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
E-Dancer,
Don Cherry,
Kings Of Tomorrow,
Gang of Four,
Soulsonic Force,
Beasts of Bourbon,
Angry Samoans,
The Raincoats,
Danielle Patucci,
R.M.O.,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
the Association,
Wighnomy Brothers & Robag Wruhme,
The Tremeloes,
Alice Coltrane,
Grauzone,
Radio Birdman,
Howard Jones,
Whodini,
June of 44,
Rod Modell,
DJ Sneak,
Blancmange,
Shuggie Otis,
Gang Green, Gang Green, Gang Green, Gang Green.
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.