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 St Kitts & Nevis and from Lagos.
But I was there.
I was there in 1983.
I was there at the first Lewis show in Vancouver.
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 1962 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Sao Paulo and Shanghai.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Halifax 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 1976 at the first Soft Boys practice in a loft in Cambridge.
I was working on the linndrum 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 PIL to the techno 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 Sight & Sound. All the underground hits.
All Peter & Gordon tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Banda Bassotti record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal electroclash hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying an organ and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Be Bop Deluxe record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought an organ.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a spring reverb.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Doobie Brothers,
Rufus Thomas,
Dual Sessions,
Bronski Beat,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
Mantronix,
Duran Duran,
Gregory Isaacs,
Magazine,
The Pop Group,
Yaz,
Lalann,
Kerri Chandler,
Jawbox,
The Flesh Eaters,
China Crisis,
Jacques Brel,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
Ohio Players,
Flipper,
Peter and Kerry,
Underground Resistance,
Black Sheep,
Thee Headcoats,
Lalo Schifrin,
Whodini,
Peter & Gordon,
X-102,
The Human League,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
Wighnomy Brothers & Robag Wruhme,
The Star Department,
Parry Music,
Carl Craig,
Patti Smith,
Rosa Yemen,
The Black Dice,
Gong,
Dawn Penn,
Be Bop Deluxe,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
Marine Girls,
Loose Ends,
Symarip,
E-Dancer,
Kerrie Biddell,
Pere Ubu,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
Chris Corsano,
Kevin Saunderson,
Half Japanese,
Con Funk Shun,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Main Source,
Laurel Aitken,
Spandau Ballet,
Fatback Band,
Sex Pistols,
The Seeds,
Bobby Womack,
Groovy Waters, Groovy Waters, Groovy Waters, Groovy Waters.
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.