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 Ghana and from Johannesburg.
But I was there.
I was there in 1962.
I was there at the first Guess Who show in Winnipeg.
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 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Columbus and Toronto.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Taipei 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 1983 at the first Art of Noise practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the 808 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 Donny Hathaway to the techno kids.
I played it at Cafe Wha.
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 Suburban Knight. All the underground hits.
All Fugazi tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Arcadia record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal punk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a harpsichord and a spring reverb 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 808 and bought an oboe.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Leaves,
Cecil Taylor,
Todd Rundgren,
Vladislav Delay,
The New Christs,
John Coltrane,
Chris & Cosey,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Bluetip,
Camron Feat. Jay Z And Juelz,
DJ Sneak,
Inner City,
Television,
The Zeros,
Fat Boys,
Wings,
Larry & the Blue Notes,
Pole,
Tropical Tobacco,
Das Ding,
The Velvet Underground,
Eli Mardock,
Isaac Hayes,
The Slits,
Banda Bassotti,
Absolute Body Control,
Interpol,
OOIOO,
MC5,
Groovy Waters,
the Fania All-Stars,
Albert Ayler,
Nik Kershaw,
Pagans,
Stetsasonic,
Mars,
The Invisible,
Judy Mowatt,
The Sound,
The United States of America,
Janne Schatter,
Magma,
Fear,
Moebius,
Colin Newman,
The Trojans,
Ultravox,
These Immortal Souls,
Gian Franco Pienzio,
Soul Sonic Force,
Main Source,
The Associates,
Saccharine Trust,
Funkadelic,
Excepter,
Swans,
Fatback Band,
The Cosmic Jokers,
The Walker Brothers,
Arab on Radar,
Rekid,
Jerry's Kids,
Whodini, Whodini, Whodini, Whodini.
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.