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 Trinidad & Tobago and from Glasgow.
But I was there.
I was there in 1970.
I was there at the first Onyeabor show in Enugu.
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 Glasgow and Toronto.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lagos 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 1984 at the first Arcadia practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the marimba 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 Tears for Fears to the dance kids.
I played it at the Astoria.
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 Barclay James Harvest. All the underground hits.
All The Saints tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Hoover record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grunge hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying an arpeggiator and a marimba and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a H. Thieme record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a guitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a synthesizer.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Alphaville,
Unrelated Segments,
Joe Finger,
Theoretical Girls,
Soul Sonic Force,
Babytalk,
The Evens,
The Seeds,
Eric B and Rakim,
The Barracudas,
Siglo XX,
Slick Rick,
Fear,
The Gladiators,
Das Ding,
Nico,
Scott Walker,
The Electric Prunes,
Flash Fearless,
Jerry's Kids,
Malaria!,
The Smiths,
The Residents,
Stereo Dub,
X-Ray Spex,
Carl Craig,
Monolake,
John Cale,
U.S. Maple,
Ohio Players,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
A Flock of Seagulls,
Scrapy,
Thee Headcoats,
Can,
Neil Young,
Joey Negro,
Wasted Youth,
The Alarm Clocks,
Todd Terry,
The Standells,
Public Image Ltd.,
Little Man,
Basic Channel,
Young Marble Giants,
a-ha,
The Count Five,
Tomorrow,
The Monks,
Lalo Schifrin,
Henry Cow,
Arab on Radar,
Girls At Our Best!,
Gregory Isaacs,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Gil Scott Heron,
Icehouse,
Soulsonic Force,
Donny Hathaway,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
Jeff Lynne,
Morten Harket, Morten Harket, Morten Harket, Morten Harket.
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.