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 South Sudan and from Manila.
But I was there.
I was there in 1979.
I was there at the first Second Layer show in South 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 1962 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lagos and Bologna.
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 1978 at the first Visage practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the marimba sounds with much patience.
I was there when Tom Verlaine 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 The Angels of Light to the crunk kids.
I played it at the Hacienda.
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 Joe Finger. All the underground hits.
All Swell Maps tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Au Pairs record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grime hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a chamberlin and a mellotron and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Gladiators record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a chamberlin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Peter & Gordon,
Howard Jones,
Kool Moe Dee,
Joe Smooth,
Gang of Four,
John Holt,
Larry & the Blue Notes,
Deakin,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Scott Walker + Sunn O))),
Delon & Dalcan,
The Gories,
X-Ray Spex,
Quando Quango,
Liliput,
Jawbox,
Easy Going,
Glambeats Corp.,
Anthony Braxton,
Traffic Nightmare,
Terry Callier,
Man Eating Sloth,
DJ Style,
Brand Nubian,
Sly & The Family Stone,
The Velvet Underground,
The Monochrome Set,
The Martian,
The Durutti Column,
Fad Gadget,
The New Christs,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
The Birthday Party,
The Dirtbombs,
The Beau Brummels,
Godley & Creme,
The Misunderstood,
Cameo,
The Dead C,
Metal Thangz,
These Immortal Souls,
Barclay James Harvest,
Yellowson,
Sex Pistols,
Glenn Branca,
June of 44,
Camouflage,
The Dave Clark Five,
Erasure,
Gang Starr,
Curtis Mayfield,
The Count Five,
The Mummies,
David Axelrod,
Prince Buster,
Aural Exciters,
Mantronix,
June Days,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
The Fuzztones,
Amon Düül II,
Bobby Hutcherson,
Chris & Cosey, Chris & Cosey, Chris & Cosey, Chris & Cosey.
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.