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 Israel and from Copenhagen.
But I was there.
I was there in 1975.
I was there at the first Throbbing Gristle 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 1961 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Delhi and Tehran.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Calgary 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 harpsichord sounds with much patience.
I was there when Donald Fagen 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 Pretty Things to the jazz 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 Heaven 17. All the underground hits.
All Silicon Teens tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Neil Young & Crazy Horse 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 '60s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a spring reverb and a güiro and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Bill Near record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a chamberlin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Hoover,
Henry Cow,
Alton Ellis,
Donald Byrd,
Basic Channel,
Faraquet,
Pierre Henry,
Kerri Chandler,
Animal Collective,
Outsiders,
Matthew Halsall,
Jerry's Kids,
Main Source,
Skarface,
Johnny Clarke,
Technova,
The Slits,
Deadbeat,
Dorothy Ashby,
Erasure,
Laurel Aitken,
Infiniti,
The Techniques,
Soulsonic Force,
Traffic Nightmare,
John Lydon,
The Smoke,
Stetsasonic,
Rotary Connection,
the Association,
Scratch Acid,
Nik Kershaw,
The Gladiators,
Make Up,
Brand Nubian,
The Human League,
The Blackbyrds,
Slick Rick,
Sixth Finger,
The Move,
Radio Birdman,
The Fall,
Livin' Joy,
Man Parrish,
Harry Pussy,
Silicon Teens,
Bad Manners,
Jimmy McGriff,
The Cramps,
Television Personalities,
Drive Like Jehu,
It's A Beautiful Day,
New Age Steppers,
Lightning Bolt,
Black Flag,
Sound Behaviour,
Ten City,
Donny Hathaway,
The Tremeloes,
Von Mondo,
Shoche,
Grey Daturas,
Cluster,
The Doobie Brothers, The Doobie Brothers, The Doobie Brothers, The Doobie Brothers.
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.