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 Malawi and from Tehran.
But I was there.
I was there in 1984.
I was there at the first Arcadia show in London.
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 1966 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lyon and Johannesburg.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Taipei 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 1976 at the first Soft Boys practice in a loft in Cambridge.
I was working on the arpeggiator 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 Joy Division to the jazz kids.
I played it at the Troubador.
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 Henry Cow. All the underground hits.
All Rhythim Is Rhythim tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Kinks record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal funk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a güiro and a snare and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Ronan record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a marimba.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Camberwell Now,
The Flesh Eaters,
Crooked Eye,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
The Gun Club,
Joey Negro,
Max Romeo,
Notorious BIG live in Amsterdam,
Lower 48,
Fat Boys,
Jeff Mills,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
Deadbeat,
Marc Almond,
B.T. Express,
T. Rex,
Jimmy McGriff,
Gichy Dan,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Mr. Review,
Kas Product,
Lee Hazlewood,
Piero Umiliani,
These Immortal Souls,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Matthew Bourne,
Visionaries,LMNO, T- Love & Iriscience,
The Moody Blues,
UT,
Desert Stars,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Loose Ends,
Jeff Lynne,
Bobby Byrd,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
Electric Prunes,
Moebius,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
Ultravox,
Barry Ungar,
The Birthday Party,
Michelle Simonal,
E-Dancer,
Outsiders,
The Dave Clark Five,
Flash Fearless,
Technova,
Rhythm & Sound,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
Alton Ellis,
Stetsasonic,
Terry Callier,
David Bowie,
The Standells,
Ponytail,
Los Fastidios,
The Divine Comedy,
Grauzone,
Thompson Twins,
Boz Scaggs,
The Invisible,
Wings, Wings, Wings, Wings.
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.