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 Venezuela and from Accra.
But I was there.
I was there in 1976.
I was there at the first Wire show in Watford.
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 1969 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Seoul and Winnipeg.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Manchester 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 1977 at the first Zapp practice in a loft in Hamilton.
I was working on the marimba 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 Manfred Mann's Earth Band to the rock 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 Tom Boy. All the underground hits.
All The Searchers tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Crime 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 a marimba and a 808 and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Howard Jones record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought an organ.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
In Retrospect,
Ten City,
48th St. Collective,
Mad Mike,
Tim Buckley,
Bobby Womack,
Visionaries,LMNO, T- Love & Iriscience,
Thompson Twins,
Pet Shop Boys,
John Cale,
Brick,
Fela Kuti,
The Move,
Cabaret Voltaire,
June Days,
Bobby Sherman,
Nation of Ulysses,
This Heat,
Sight & Sound,
Sound Behaviour,
The Barracudas,
Warren Ellis,
Jimmy McGriff,
Panda Bear,
Eric B and Rakim,
New York Dolls,
Lebanon Hanover,
Chris Corsano,
Television Personalities,
Echospace,
Yaz,
The Invisible,
Arcadia,
The Litter,
Big Daddy Kane,
The Remains,
Shuggie Otis,
Nirvana,
Stockholm Monsters,
Main Source,
The Grass Roots,
Goldenarms,
Radiohead,
Max Romeo,
Avey Tare,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
John Coltrane,
The Alarm Clocks,
Minny Pops,
Dawn Penn,
Crime,
Delon & Dalcan,
Lower 48,
U.S. Maple,
Flamin' Groovies,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse,
The Count Five,
Section 25,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Brass Construction,
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
Marvin Gaye, Marvin Gaye, Marvin Gaye, Marvin Gaye.
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.