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 Cyprus and from New York.
But I was there.
I was there in 1970.
I was there at the first Onyeabor show in Enugu.
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 1964 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Glasgow and Paris.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Glasgow 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 oboe sounds with much patience.
I was there when Lou Reed 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 Soft Machine to the crunk kids.
I played it at the Astoria.
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 Zapp. All the underground hits.
All Beasts of Bourbon tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Depeche Mode record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal electroclash hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a rhodes and a 808 and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Harry Pussy record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a theremin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Soul II Soul,
Dual Sessions,
Dave Gahan,
Japan,
The Names,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
The Fortunes,
Joensuu 1685,
Interpol,
Tubeway Army,
Royal Trux,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
Davy DMX,
John Foxx,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
OOIOO,
ABC,
Donald Byrd,
Anakelly,
The Monochrome Set,
Cymande,
Fat Boys,
Blancmange,
The Shadows of Knight,
Aloha Tigers,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks,
ABBA,
Buzzcocks,
Cecil Taylor,
Deepchord,
Quando Quango,
Fear,
Kurtis Blow,
Radiohead,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
Derrick May,
the Human League,
Sonic Youth,
The Stooges,
Moss Icon,
Camberwell Now,
The Smiths,
The J.B.'s,
The Invisible,
Connie Case,
the Bar-Kays,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
Barrington Levy,
Brand Nubian,
Johnny Osbourne,
X-102,
Agitation Free,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
Clear Light,
Fela Kuti,
Darondo,
Gerry Rafferty,
Half Japanese,
The Associates, The Associates, The Associates, The Associates.
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.