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 Japan and from Jakarta.
But I was there.
I was there in 1968.
I was there at the first Bowie show in Bromley.
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 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Jakarta and Lagos.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Portland 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 Art of Noise practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the güiro sounds with much patience.
I was there when Nile Rodgers 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 Basic Channel to the funk 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 Funky Four + One. All the underground hits.
All the Germs tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Monochrome Set record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grunge 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 guitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Bill Near record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a 808.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought an oboe.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Ice-T,
Fat Boys,
Monks,
The Slackers,
Bobby Hutcherson,
Gang Starr,
La Düsseldorf,
Sound Behaviour,
Symarip,
Gerry Rafferty,
David Axelrod,
Lee Hazlewood,
48th St. Collective,
Spandau Ballet,
Gastr Del Sol,
Juan Atkins,
Fela Kuti,
Eurythmics,
R.M.O.,
The Gories,
Franke,
Deadbeat,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Sugar Minott,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
B.T. Express,
Jeru the Damaja,
Minnie Riperton,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Sarah Menescal,
JFA,
Eli Mardock,
Basic Channel,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
Wire,
Lizzy Mercier Descloux,
Metal Thangz,
Country Joe & The Fish,
Mars,
Audionom,
Banda Bassotti,
The Vogues,
Jesper Dahlbäck,
Mary Jane Girls,
Derrick May,
DNA,
The Moleskins,
Harpers Bizarre,
Black Sheep,
T. Rex,
Outsiders,
Sixth Finger,
Pole,
The Doors,
Matthew Bourne,
The Saints,
Half Japanese,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
The Mojo Men,
The Mummies,
Sonic Youth,
Dawn Penn,
Ultimate Spinach, Ultimate Spinach, Ultimate Spinach, Ultimate Spinach.
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.