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 South Sudan and from Milan.
But I was there.
I was there in 1983.
I was there at the first Art of Noise 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 1966 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Philadelphia and Lagos.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Mexico City 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 Second Layer practice in a loft in South London.
I was working on the oboe sounds with much patience.
I was there when Robert Palmer 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 Soul II Soul to the disco kids.
I played it at the Roxy.
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 The Human League. All the underground hits.
All Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Underground Resistance 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 '70s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a chamberlin and a spring reverb and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Soul II Soul record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought a harpsichord.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a chamberlin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Scrapy,
Qualms,
The Men They Couldn't Hang,
Gabor Szabo,
Goldenarms,
Pierre Henry,
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282,
Rapeman,
La Düsseldorf,
Porter Ricks,
Warren Ellis,
The Walker Brothers,
The J.B.'s,
Inner City,
The Busters,
The Star Department,
Eddi Front,
Albert Ayler,
Sonny Sharrock,
John Lydon,
Von Mondo,
Throbbing Gristle,
Tropical Tobacco,
The Durutti Column,
a-ha,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
The Zeros,
Flipper,
The Names,
Spoonie Gee,
Lou Christie,
Jerry Gold Smith,
Eli Mardock,
Pussy Galore,
Fort Wilson Riot,
Erasure,
Barrington Levy,
Television Personalities,
Black Bananas,
Hardrive,
The Barracudas,
Marine Girls,
Organ,
Lou Reed,
Kaleidoscope,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
James White and The Blacks,
R.M.O.,
Matthew Bourne,
Beasts of Bourbon,
T. Rex,
Quando Quango,
The Mummies,
Nico,
Fluxion,
Whodini,
Man Parrish,
June of 44,
Cymande,
Donald Byrd,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Sonic Youth,
Mantronix, Mantronix, Mantronix, Mantronix.
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.