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 Ethiopia and from Manila.
But I was there.
I was there in 1977.
I was there at the first Mistral show in Amsterdam.
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 1961 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Madrid and Toronto.
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 1976 at the first Soft Boys practice in a loft in Cambridge.
I was working on the arpeggiator 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 Alphaville to the electroclash kids.
I played it at the Astoria.
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 Cal Tjader. All the underground hits.
All Bobby Byrd tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Chrome record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal jazz hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a snare and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Swans record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a marimba.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a harpsichord.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Moss Icon,
Babytalk,
Ituana,
Lakeside,
London Community Gospel Choir,
Jeff Mills,
Peter & Gordon,
Gang Gang Dance,
Ponytail,
Lalann,
Cecil Taylor,
Gil Scott Heron,
Essential Logic,
Notorious Big And Bone Thugs,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Hasil Adkins,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
The Mighty Diamonds,
Slick Rick,
Bad Manners,
Angry Samoans,
UT,
The Black Dice,
Arthur Verocai,
Kaleidoscope,
Minor Threat,
Jeff Lynne,
Soulsonic Force,
The Count Five,
The Fugs,
Marmalade,
Max Romeo,
Pagans,
kango's stein massive,
The Pop Group,
The New Christs,
Niagra,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Easy Going,
Bobby Sherman,
Buzzcocks,
Wasted Youth,
Kenny Larkin,
MC5,
Bill Near,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
Eve St. Jones,
The Monochrome Set,
Joensuu 1685,
Scott Walker,
Jesper Dahlback,
the Swans,
Crispian St. Peters,
Sly & The Family Stone,
Barrington Levy,
The Dead C,
Interpol,
Mars,
Amon Düül II,
Barclay James Harvest,
Fatback Band,
Rosa Yemen, Rosa Yemen, Rosa Yemen, Rosa Yemen.
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.