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 Kiribati and from Paris.
But I was there.
I was there in 1977.
I was there at the first Zapp show in Hamilton.
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 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Taipei and Johannesburg.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Sao Paulo 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 1971 at the first Neu! practice in a loft in Düsseldorf.
I was working on the theremin sounds with much patience.
I was there when David Bowie 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 Mighty Diamonds to the grime kids.
I played it at the 40 Watt.
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 The Real Kids. All the underground hits.
All The Neon Judgement tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Freddie Wadling record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rock 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 clarinet and an organ and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Bill Near record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought an organ.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Kinks,
The Neon Judgement,
Fifty Foot Hose,
Khruangbin,
The Moody Blues,
Lower 48,
Alton Ellis,
The Litter,
Tears for Fears,
Mars,
R.M.O.,
Cal Tjader,
Jerry Gold Smith,
Pere Ubu,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Y Pants,
Drive Like Jehu,
Loose Ends,
the Bar-Kays,
Tres Demented,
the Association,
Barclay James Harvest,
Danielle Patucci,
Piero Umiliani,
The Index,
Eyeless In Gaza,
Television,
Matthew Halsall,
Bluetip,
Sixth Finger,
The Offenders,
Quantec,
Larry & the Blue Notes,
June Days,
Robert Görl,
Ten City,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Soul II Soul,
Funky Four + One,
Harpers Bizarre,
Blancmange,
Wolf Eyes,
Barrington Levy,
The Monks,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Minny Pops,
Gichy Dan,
Darondo,
Slick Rick,
Eurythmics,
Dorothy Ashby,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
Brand Nubian,
The Slits,
Dual Sessions,
Agitation Free,
Blake Baxter,
Unrelated Segments,
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks,
Nick Fraelich,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Heaven 17,
James White and The Blacks, James White and The Blacks, James White and The Blacks, James White and The Blacks.
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.