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 Bolivia and from Lille.
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 1965 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Halifax and Lille.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Accra 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 1977 at the first Mistral practice in a loft in Amsterdam.
I was working on the snare 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 Marc Almond to the jazz 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 ABBA. All the underground hits.
All Babytalk tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo 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 '80s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying an arpeggiator and a marimba and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Ronan record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a sitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Groovy Waters,
Yaz,
Carl Craig,
In Retrospect,
Minny Pops,
Cymande,
Iggy Pop,
The Gun Club,
Circle Jerks,
Animal Collective,
the Human League,
Masters at Work,
Chris & Cosey,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Barbara Tucker,
Gregory Isaacs,
Make Up,
Heaven 17,
Pulsallama,
Lindisfarne,
the Normal,
Dawn Penn,
Pussy Galore,
Thee Headcoats,
Suicide,
Scion,
The Slits,
Loose Ends,
Amon Düül II,
Mo-Dettes,
Tears for Fears,
Cluster,
Matthew Bourne,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
the Fania All-Stars,
Byron Stingily,
Sonic Youth,
La Düsseldorf,
Kerri Chandler,
The Detroit Cobras,
Barrington Levy,
Excepter,
The Saints,
The Evens,
Minutemen,
Sparks,
Average White Band,
China Crisis,
Bobby Byrd,
Youth Brigade,
Deepchord,
New Order,
Swell Maps,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
the Bar-Kays,
Mary Jane Girls,
Livin' Joy,
Albert Ayler,
Ash Ra Tempel,
Steve Hackett, Steve Hackett, Steve Hackett, Steve Hackett.
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.