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 Tanzania and from London.
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 1964 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Shanghai and Lille.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lille 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 Buzzcocks practice in a loft in Bolton.
I was working on the oboe sounds with much patience.
I was there when Holger Czukay 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 Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band to the grime kids.
I played it at Cafe Wha.
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 Thinking Fellers Union Local 282. All the underground hits.
All Audionom tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Arcadia 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 '80s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a chamberlin and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Swell Maps record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a chamberlin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought a guitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Offenders,
Grey Daturas,
Easy Going,
The Saints,
Frankie Knuckles,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
The Monks,
Jeff Mills,
X-Ray Spex,
Organ,
Archie Shepp,
Wally Richardson,
Lalo Schifrin,
Sex Pistols,
Ultimate Spinach,
Fad Gadget,
Yellowson,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Robert Görl,
Stiv Bators,
Parry Music,
LL Cool J,
Glambeats Corp.,
The Walker Brothers,
Lou Reed,
Juan Atkins,
Saccharine Trust,
FM Einheit,
the Swans,
Masters at Work,
Bobbi Humphrey,
The Buckinghams,
Warsaw,
Dorothy Ashby,
Curtis Mayfield,
The Doors,
Mo-Dettes,
Alphaville,
Peter & Gordon,
The Tremeloes,
The Chocolate Watch Band,
Spoonie Gee,
The Human League,
Big Daddy Kane,
Darondo,
Kurtis Blow,
Joe Smooth,
John Cale,
Jacques Brel,
The Fuzztones,
Johnny Osbourne,
Gang of Four,
Hoover,
Eric B and Rakim,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Grauzone,
Country Joe & The Fish,
Accadde A,
Guru Guru,
Desert Stars,
Outsiders,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
The Gladiators,
Young Marble Giants, Young Marble Giants, Young Marble Giants, Young Marble Giants.
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.