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 Malaysia and from Beijing.
But I was there.
I was there in 1971.
I was there at the first Neu! show in Düsseldorf.
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 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lagos and New York.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Mexico City 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 Josef K practice in a loft in Edinburgh.
I was working on the 808 sounds with much patience.
I was there when Michael McDonald 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 Letta Mbulu to the punk 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 Arthur Verocai. All the underground hits.
All Sandy B tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Wake record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal punk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a clarinet and a theremin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Names record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a chamberlin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Offenders,
Gil Scott Heron,
Yazoo,
Mark Hollis,
Ajijia Myrayebe,
Judy Mowatt,
Accadde A,
Eyeless In Gaza,
Junior Murvin,
John Foxx,
X-101,
The J.B.'s,
Swans,
the Human League,
Roxette,
The Cramps,
Funkadelic,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
The Music Machine,
Lou Reed,
Icehouse,
Traffic Nightmare,
Scan 7,
Gregory Isaacs,
Gang of Four,
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282,
Todd Terry,
Echospace,
Jeff Lynne,
Stiv Bators,
Josef K,
Matthew Bourne,
David Bowie,
Khruangbin,
Yaz,
Television Personalities,
Masters at Work,
Black Moon,
Gang Starr,
Ultra Naté,
Barrington Levy,
Malaria!,
Bob Dylan,
Nils Olav,
Bang On A Can,
Sandy B,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
Mandrill,
The Neon Judgement,
Cluster,
Flipper,
Faust,
Glenn Branca,
New York Dolls,
Soulsonic Force,
Alison Limerick,
Neil Young,
Motorama,
Tres Demented,
Aloha Tigers, Aloha Tigers, Aloha Tigers, Aloha Tigers.
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.