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 Tunisia and from Calgary.
But I was there.
I was there in 1976.
I was there at the first Chic show in New York.
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 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Johannesburg and Salvador.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Manchester 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 808 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 Bobby Hutcherson to the jazz kids.
I played it at the Spitz.
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 Gang of Four. All the underground hits.
All Nation of Ulysses tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Johnny Clarke record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal dance 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 theremin and a linndrum and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Joensuu 1685 record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a mellotron.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Marvin Gaye,
Lower 48,
Sandy B,
Barrington Levy,
The Red Krayola,
Rites of Spring,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Terry Callier,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
John Coltrane,
Khruangbin,
Malaria!,
Unwound,
Can,
A Flock of Seagulls,
Ultra Naté,
KRS-One,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
Byron Stingily,
The New Christs,
Sex Pistols,
Carl Craig,
Eric Copeland,
Mission of Burma,
Quantec,
Wasted Youth,
Kayak,
Iggy Pop,
The Fall,
Robert Wyatt,
The Angels of Light,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Dave Gahan,
Scott Walker,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
The Gladiators,
Jacob Miller,
Amon Düül II,
Blake Baxter,
Pussy Galore,
Josef K,
Theoretical Girls,
Fad Gadget,
Prince Buster,
Television Personalities,
Drexciya,
Susan Cadogan,
Porter Ricks,
The Dave Clark Five,
The Mummies,
Deepchord,
The Happenings,
Tears for Fears,
The Golliwogs,
The Standells,
Dark Day,
The Associates,
Steve Hackett,
Roy Ayers,
Ponytail,
Bill Near,
the Soft Cell, the Soft Cell, the Soft Cell, the Soft Cell.
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.