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 Tuvalu and from Stockholm.
But I was there.
I was there in 1975.
I was there at the first Ubu show in Cleveland.
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 1968 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Houston and Calgary.
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 1977 at the first Human League practice in a loft in Sheffield.
I was working on the arpeggiator 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 The Searchers to the techno kids.
I played it at the Troubador.
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 Alton Ellis. All the underground hits.
All The Gap Band tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Isaac Hayes record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal crunk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a mellotron and a snare and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Gregory Isaacs record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a theremin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Colin Newman,
The Last Poets,
L. Decosne,
Gian Franco Pienzio,
Tommy Roe,
Coldchain, Rosco P., Featuring Pusha T from Clipse & Boo-Bonic,
Junior Murvin,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
Joyce Sims,
Roxette,
Agitation Free,
Whodini,
Soul Sonic Force,
Minutemen,
Camberwell Now,
Tim Buckley,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Kerrie Biddell,
Zapp,
Terry Callier,
Byron Stingily,
Rhythm & Sound,
Echospace,
Reuben Wilson,
Scion,
Bobby Womack,
Joensuu 1685,
Derrick May,
Soul II Soul,
Nico,
Grauzone,
Danielle Patucci,
The Fire Engines,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
the Human League,
Ultra Naté,
Matthew Halsall,
The Electric Prunes,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
Gregory Isaacs,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
LL Cool J,
The Sound,
Kenny Larkin,
Yazoo,
Sarah Menescal,
Sam Rivers,
Anthony Braxton,
Soft Machine,
Eric B and Rakim,
Talk Talk,
Jeff Mills,
New Age Steppers,
Dave Gahan,
the Soft Cell,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Ponytail,
Drexciya,
The New Christs,
Crash Course in Science,
Moby Grape,
Kayak,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
Dark Day, Dark Day, Dark Day, Dark Day.
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.