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 Fiji and from Philadelphia.
But I was there.
I was there in 1976.
I was there at the first Soft Boys show in Cambridge.
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 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Manila and Madrid.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Edmonton 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 1976 at the first Soft Boys practice in a loft in Cambridge.
I was working on the snare 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 Smiths to the grime 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 Colin Newman. All the underground hits.
All Crime 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 grime hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a chamberlin and a clarinet and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Moss Icon record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a snare.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Radio Birdman,
Pharoah Sanders,
Visage,
MDC,
Sun City Girls,
Gastr Del Sol,
Nik Kershaw,
Lou Reed,
Johnny Osbourne,
Soul II Soul,
Jawbox,
Agent Orange,
Rapeman,
Sly & The Family Stone,
Marmalade,
Arcadia,
The Tremeloes,
The Monochrome Set,
Jacques Brel,
The Young Rascals,
Fela Kuti,
Aswad,
Amon Düül,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Black Sheep,
Roxette,
Jerry's Kids,
Clear Light,
JFA,
Interpol,
Swell Maps,
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
Soft Cell,
Crispy Ambulance,
The Mojo Men,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Alphaville,
In Retrospect,
Barry Ungar,
ABC,
Arthur Verocai,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
Delon & Dalcan,
Brothers Johnson,
Bronski Beat,
The Mummies,
The Cowsills,
Maleditus Sound,
The Raincoats,
Andrew Hill,
Scratch Acid,
PIL,
Junior Murvin,
AZ,
OOIOO,
Qualms, Qualms, Qualms, Qualms.
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.