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 Guinea and from Halifax.
But I was there.
I was there in 1976.
I was there at the first Soft Boys show in Cambridge.
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 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Jakarta and Beijing.
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 1968 at the first Bowie practice in a loft in Bromley.
I was working on the organ sounds with much patience.
I was there when Donald Fagen 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 Chris & Cosey to the jazz 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 Bootsy's Rubber Band. All the underground hits.
All Ohio Players tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Funky Four + One 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 '60s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a clarinet and a 808 and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Matthew Halsall record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a mellotron.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
FM Einheit,
the Swans,
The Cramps,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
The Dead C,
Terry Callier,
Bad Manners,
Saccharine Trust,
Black Pus,
Masters at Work,
Davy DMX,
Man Eating Sloth,
Ultramagnetic MC's,
The Gories,
Brothers Johnson,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
The Monochrome Set,
Eurythmics,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Dorothy Ashby,
Faust,
Grey Daturas,
Das Ding,
Rhythm & Sound,
Slick Rick,
Peter and Kerry,
Fela Kuti,
Adolescents,
The Birthday Party,
Black Moon,
Deadbeat,
Jandek,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
Siglo XX,
Gang Starr,
Howard Jones,
The Litter,
X-102,
H. Thieme,
Motorama,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Faraquet,
Minutemen,
Boredoms,
Mr. Review,
Maurizio,
Tres Demented,
Kerri Chandler,
Throbbing Gristle,
Au Pairs,
Erasure,
China Crisis,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Piero Umiliani,
Fifty Foot Hose,
Cecil Taylor,
The Selecter,
Television,
Sparks, Sparks, Sparks, Sparks.
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.