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 Belgium and from Edmonton.
But I was there.
I was there in 1983.
I was there at the first Art of Noise 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 1968 to 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Edmonton and Shanghai.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Manila 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 808 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 Popol Vuh to the rap 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 Black Pus. All the underground hits.
All David Bowie tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Fall record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rap 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 synthesizer and a mellotron and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Manfred Mann's Earth Band record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a marimba.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought an oboe.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Marvin Gaye,
Bobby Hutcherson,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Lebanon Hanover,
Hasil Adkins,
Alphaville,
Rowland S Howard / Lydia Lunch,
Todd Terry,
Delon & Dalcan,
the Association,
Ponytail,
Reuben Wilson,
Livin' Joy,
Los Fastidios,
The Selecter,
The Happenings,
Junior Murvin,
Tears for Fears,
Section 25,
UT,
Cecil Taylor,
David Axelrod,
Qualms,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
X-Ray Spex,
Camouflage,
Radio Birdman,
the Bar-Kays,
Pharoah Sanders,
Rakim,
Henry Cow,
Sugar Minott,
Quando Quango,
Rotary Connection,
Mark Hollis,
Neu!,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Warren Ellis,
Kings Of Tomorrow,
Josef K,
Flamin' Groovies,
Monolake,
The Knickerbockers,
Sight & Sound,
Byron Stingily,
Underground Resistance,
Glambeats Corp.,
Joensuu 1685,
Unwound,
Sun City Girls,
Q and Not U,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
the Sonics,
Blancmange,
Be Bop Deluxe,
Brick,
Gichy Dan,
John Foxx,
Heaven 17,
Saccharine Trust,
Patti Smith, Patti Smith, Patti Smith, Patti Smith.
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.