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 Hungary and from Cairo.
But I was there.
I was there in 1976.
I was there at the first Soft Boys show in Cambridge.
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 1960 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Bologna and Accra.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Seoul 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 oboe sounds with much patience.
I was there when David Bowie 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 Whodini to the funk kids.
I played it at CBGB's.
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 Rapeman. All the underground hits.
All Beasts of Bourbon tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Letta Mbulu record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal electroclash hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a clarinet and a güiro and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Matthew Halsall record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a harpsichord.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Peter & Gordon,
Hashim,
Joey Negro,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
Average White Band,
John Lydon,
Hasil Adkins,
Skaos,
Youth Brigade,
The Smiths,
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Ituana,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
Ultra Naté,
Fort Wilson Riot,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Peter and Kerry,
Zero Boys,
In Retrospect,
Iggy Pop,
Scan 7,
Liliput,
The Human League,
Eric Dolphy,
Sun Ra,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Derrick May,
Black Pus,
Barbara Tucker,
Newcleus,
Tim Buckley,
Ajijia Myrayebe,
Bobby Womack,
Khruangbin,
Scott Walker,
Goldenarms,
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks,
Rowland S Howard / Lydia Lunch,
Thee Headcoats,
Scott Walker + Sunn O))),
Barrington Levy,
Depeche Mode,
ABC,
Kerrie Biddell,
Tears for Fears,
James White and The Blacks,
The Raincoats,
PIL,
Tomorrow,
Subhumans,
Colin Newman,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
The Fugs,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Deadbeat,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
Ponytail,
Carl Craig,
L. Decosne,
John Foxx,
Stereo Dub,
Marvin Gaye,
Dawn Penn, Dawn Penn, Dawn Penn, Dawn Penn.
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.