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 Turkmenistan and from Paris.
But I was there.
I was there in 1971.
I was there at the first Selda show in Istanbul.
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 1965 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Spokane and Edmonton.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Columbus 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 oboe 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 Trojans to the rap kids.
I played it at the Spitz.
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 The Doobie Brothers. All the underground hits.
All Nation of Ulysses tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every New Age Steppers record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal disco hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a harpsichord and a clarinet and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Ken Boothe record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Wings,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Echospace,
Swans,
Shuggie Otis,
The Misunderstood,
the Fania All-Stars,
The Invisible,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
La Düsseldorf,
Pet Shop Boys,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Delta 5,
The Young Rascals,
Boogie Down Productions,
Don Cherry,
Rotary Connection,
Quando Quango,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Jeff Mills,
The Busters,
A Flock of Seagulls,
Sonny Sharrock,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
Lou Christie,
Andrew Hill,
Flash Fearless,
Idris Muhammad,
Maurizio,
Moss Icon,
Henry Cow,
Quantec,
Cameo,
Agitation Free,
The Zeros,
New Age Steppers,
T. Rex,
Rowland S Howard / Lydia Lunch,
Kas Product,
Gian Franco Pienzio,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
The Smoke,
Public Image Ltd.,
Average White Band,
Eyeless In Gaza,
The Evens,
Michelle Simonal,
The Slackers,
Outsiders,
The Count Five,
Skaos,
Funkadelic,
the Normal,
FM Einheit,
Magazine,
Rufus Thomas,
The Monks,
Juan Atkins,
Wire,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Freddie Wadling,
Isaac Hayes,
Nation of Ulysses, Nation of Ulysses, Nation of Ulysses, Nation of Ulysses.
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.