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 Israel and from Stockholm.
But I was there.
I was there in 1983.
I was there at the first Bronski Beat show in Brixton.
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 1960 to 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in New York and Johannesburg.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Woodstock 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 1968 at the first Can practice in a loft in Cologne.
I was working on the linndrum sounds with much patience.
I was there when Tom Verlaine 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 Throbbing Gristle to the punk kids.
I played it at the Troubador.
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 Quadrant. All the underground hits.
All The Mummies tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Names record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal funk 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 linndrum and a synthesizer and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Mark Hollis record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a theremin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Cecil Taylor,
Saccharine Trust,
Flash Fearless,
Man Parrish,
John Cale,
Moss Icon,
Prince Buster,
Donny Hathaway,
Moebius,
Kurtis Blow,
Gian Franco Pienzio,
David Bowie,
ABBA,
Brand Nubian,
Bizarre Inc.,
Interpol,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
Slick Rick,
Stetsasonic,
The Fortunes,
Little Man,
Delon & Dalcan,
Cheater Slicks,
Q65,
Dual Sessions,
Jawbox,
Neil Young,
Gang Green,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Beasts of Bourbon,
Marc Almond,
The Mummies,
Rod Modell,
Crooked Eye,
Japan,
Masters at Work,
Gong,
The Saints,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse,
Larry & the Blue Notes,
Arthur Verocai,
New Order,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
The Sound,
Bang On A Can,
Arab on Radar,
Pulsallama,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
Marcia Griffiths,
Popol Vuh,
Anakelly,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
DJ Style,
Deadbeat,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Kerri Chandler,
Harpers Bizarre,
Pantytec,
T. Rex,
Agent Orange,
Hardrive, Hardrive, Hardrive, Hardrive.
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.