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 Mongolia and from Tokyo.
But I was there.
I was there in 1971.
I was there at the first Selda show in Istanbul.
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 1967 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Glasgow and Shanghai.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Manchester 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 1979 at the first Josef K practice in a loft in Edinburgh.
I was working on the arpeggiator sounds with much patience.
I was there when Captain Beefheart 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 Cameo to the grunge kids.
I played it at the Spitz.
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 Rufus Thomas. All the underground hits.
All The Last Poets tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Ponytail record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grime 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 an organ and a snare and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a MDC record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a synthesizer.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a mellotron.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Second Layer,
Quando Quango,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
Oppenheimer Analysis,
Groovy Waters,
Thee Headcoats,
Con Funk Shun,
Major Organ And The Adding Machine,
Basic Channel,
The Knickerbockers,
Fad Gadget,
Kaleidoscope,
Ultramagnetic MC's,
Fela Kuti,
Grandmaster Flash,
Fat Boys,
Blossom Toes,
Ultravox,
Faust,
Mandrill,
New York Dolls,
Ituana,
Juan Atkins,
The Litter,
Terry Callier,
Ultimate Spinach,
Jerry Gold Smith,
Sparks,
The Names,
Grauzone,
Organ,
Donald Byrd,
Procol Harum,
Black Flag,
MC5,
The Doobie Brothers,
Joe Smooth,
The Monks,
Tubeway Army,
Robert Wyatt,
Tommy Roe,
Hasil Adkins,
the Swans,
Delon & Dalcan,
The Birthday Party,
8 Eyed Spy,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Electric Prunes,
Reuben Wilson,
Nirvana,
The Real Kids,
Rod Modell,
Sexual Harrassment,
Radiohead,
The Gap Band,
Anthony Braxton,
The Residents,
The Sisters of Mercy,
The Tremeloes,
The Angels of Light, The Angels of Light, The Angels of Light, The Angels of Light.
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.