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 Somalia and from Woodstock.
But I was there.
I was there in 1976.
I was there at the first Feelies show in Haledon.
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 1962 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Shanghai and Bremen.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lagos 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 clarinet 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 Bootsy Collins to the electroclash kids.
I played it at the 40 Watt.
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 Alton Ellis. All the underground hits.
All Joe Smooth tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Leaves record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal crunk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying an organ and a sitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a A Certain Ratio record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a snare.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a theremin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Fuzztones,
Mr. Review,
Altered Images,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Eric B and Rakim,
David Bowie,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
Ituana,
The Real Kids,
Severed Heads,
Derrick May,
A Flock of Seagulls,
Johnny Osbourne,
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band,
Grandmaster Flash,
The American Breed,
Selector Dub Narcotic,
Smog,
Crispian St. Peters,
Organ,
cv313,
Jeru the Damaja,
Schoolly D,
Ultimate Spinach,
Swans,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Banda Bassotti,
Hasil Adkins,
Wasted Youth,
Carl Craig,
Charles Mingus,
Livin' Joy,
Roger Hodgson,
Moebius,
Sonny Sharrock,
Bang On A Can,
Young Marble Giants,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Tomorrow,
Franke,
Cheater Slicks,
D'Angelo,
Darondo,
Little Man,
Larry & the Blue Notes,
DNA,
The Fall,
DJ Sneak,
Sexual Harrassment,
Brass Construction,
Average White Band,
Sunsets and Hearts,
The Human League,
The Gap Band,
Curtis Mayfield,
Jacques Brel,
Chris & Cosey,
Rapeman,
The Buckinghams, The Buckinghams, The Buckinghams, The Buckinghams.
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.