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 Hungary and from Bologna.
But I was there.
I was there in 1984.
I was there at the first Arcadia 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 1963 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lille and Shanghai.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Bologna 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 1980 at the first Cybotron practice in a loft in Detroit.
I was working on the synthesizer 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 The American Breed to the dance 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 Albert Ayler. All the underground hits.
All Todd Rundgren tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Sun Ra Arkestra 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 '70s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a harpsichord and a guitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Colin Newman record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought a guitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar 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 Grass Roots,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
the Fania All-Stars,
MDC,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
The Knickerbockers,
Livin' Joy,
The Evens,
X-102,
Blake Baxter,
Ten City,
John Lydon,
Pere Ubu,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
The Alarm Clocks,
Severed Heads,
F. McDonald,
Theoretical Girls,
Chris Corsano,
Glambeats Corp.,
Stereo Dub,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Bizarre Inc.,
Lou Christie,
The Buckinghams,
Tropical Tobacco,
E-Dancer,
Inner City,
Dawn Penn,
Minnie Riperton,
Animal Collective,
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band,
ABC,
MC5,
Lee Hazlewood,
Make Up,
The Selecter,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Tommy Roe,
Kurtis Blow,
Joe Finger,
The Doors,
Visage,
T.S.O.L.,
Public Enemy,
The Wake,
kango's stein massive,
Maurizio,
Scientists,
Albert Ayler,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
The Martian,
Gang Green,
Iggy Pop,
AZ,
Yaz,
Sonny Sharrock,
Sun City Girls,
David Axelrod,
Alton Ellis,
Lucky Dragons,
Bronski Beat,
Faust, Faust, Faust, Faust.
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.