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 Nepal and from Glasgow.
But I was there.
I was there in 1977.
I was there at the first Zapp show in Hamilton.
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 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Salvador and Johannesburg.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Stockholm 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 Human League practice in a loft in Sheffield.
I was working on the rhodes sounds with much patience.
I was there when Michael McDonald 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 Alphaville to the disco 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 Terrestrial Tones. All the underground hits.
All Eurythmics tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Essential Logic record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal punk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a theremin and a chamberlin 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 sitar and bought an organ.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a sitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Television,
Joe Smooth,
Arab on Radar,
JFA,
The Neon Judgement,
The Cure,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
Yazoo,
The Blackbyrds,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
Avey Tare,
Rapeman,
Aaron Thompson,
Crime,
Cybotron,
Andrew Hill,
John Lydon,
Peter and Kerry,
Yaz,
Cameo,
New Age Steppers,
DJ Sneak,
London Community Gospel Choir,
Kerrie Biddell,
Quadrant,
Monks,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Agitation Free,
Kaleidoscope,
Gerry Rafferty,
The Stooges,
The Litter,
Radio Birdman,
Das Ding,
Flipper,
The Sonics,
Scratch Acid,
Negative Approach,
The Residents,
Lizzy Mercier Descloux,
A Certain Ratio,
The Seeds,
Albert Ayler,
Junior Murvin,
Unwound,
Bluetip,
Oblivians,
John Holt,
Crispy Ambulance,
Depeche Mode,
Parry Music,
Loose Ends,
Stetsasonic,
Jacques Brel,
The United States of America,
Echospace,
Con Funk Shun,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
The Mojo Men,
New York Dolls, New York Dolls, New York Dolls, New York Dolls.
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.