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 Winnipeg.
But I was there.
I was there in 1968.
I was there at the first Can show in Cologne.
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 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lagos and Jakarta.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Bologna 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 1983 at the first Lewis practice in a loft in Vancouver.
I was working on the snare 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 Donald Byrd to the dance kids.
I played it at the Crocodile.
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 B.T. Express. All the underground hits.
All Marshall Jefferson tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Piero Umiliani record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal disco hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a synthesizer and a marimba and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Colin Newman record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a güiro.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Slick Rick,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
Kurtis Blow,
Eve St. Jones,
Ultravox,
Minnie Riperton,
Cecil Taylor,
Ronan,
Oneida,
the Germs,
Ultra Naté,
Pere Ubu,
Audionom,
Silicon Teens,
Sonic Youth,
Piero Umiliani,
Delon & Dalcan,
Slave,
The Saints,
The Shadows of Knight,
Schoolly D,
The Raincoats,
Wasted Youth,
Desert Stars,
Interpol,
The Victims,
Echospace,
Negative Approach,
The Barracudas,
Rekid,
Fat Boys,
Sandy B,
Country Joe & The Fish,
Ajijia Myrayebe,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
David McCallum,
Lalann,
Bill Near,
Joensuu 1685,
The Residents,
Kayak,
Eyeless In Gaza,
Donald Byrd,
Deakin,
Radiohead,
New York Dolls,
Don Cherry,
Lalo Schifrin,
Marvin Gaye,
The Fuzztones,
Smog,
Henry Cow,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
The Doors,
The Invisible,
The Skatalites,
Alton Ellis,
Lindisfarne,
Chris & Cosey,
Q and Not U,
Kings Of Tomorrow, Kings Of Tomorrow, Kings Of Tomorrow, Kings Of Tomorrow.
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.