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 Macedonia and from Spokane.
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 1961 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Milan and Bremen.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Hong Kong 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 Zapp practice in a loft in Hamilton.
I was working on the arpeggiator sounds with much patience.
I was there when Captain Beefheart 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 Sly & The Family Stone to the funk kids.
I played it at the Crocodile.
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 Derrick May. All the underground hits.
All The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Johnny Clarke record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grunge hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a theremin and a harpsichord and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Colin Newman record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a güiro.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a theremin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Thee Headcoats,
Vainqueur,
Jerry's Kids,
Deadbeat,
Johnny Clarke,
Aloha Tigers,
The Slits,
Laurel Aitken,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
Ultimate Spinach,
Al Stewart,
T.S.O.L.,
Simply Red,
Matthew Halsall,
Saccharine Trust,
The Pop Group,
Absolute Body Control,
Tropical Tobacco,
Joyce Sims,
The Monks,
Talk Talk,
Unwound,
Goldenarms,
Boredoms,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
New Order,
Parry Music,
The Index,
Gil Scott Heron,
Shoche,
EPMD,
Ultravox,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
a-ha,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
Niagra,
Danielle Patucci,
Freddie Wadling,
Eden Ahbez,
Prince Buster,
The Skatalites,
Boogie Down Productions,
Eyeless In Gaza,
Babytalk,
FM Einheit,
Zapp,
Hasil Adkins,
The Dave Clark Five,
Pharoah Sanders,
Moby Grape,
Coldchain, Rosco P., Featuring Pusha T from Clipse & Boo-Bonic,
Scan 7,
Sugar Minott,
Sly & The Family Stone,
Shuggie Otis,
Ossler,
Tomorrow,
The Smoke,
Soul II Soul,
The Star Department,
Yazoo,
Wire,
Black Moon,
Brothers Johnson, Brothers Johnson, Brothers Johnson, Brothers Johnson.
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.