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 Samoa and from Madrid.
But I was there.
I was there in 1975.
I was there at the first Throbbing Gristle show in 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 1960 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Manila and Bremen.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Spokane 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 1975 at the first Throbbing Gristle practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the harpsichord sounds with much patience.
I was there when Holger Czukay 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 Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo to the grime kids.
I played it at Trash.
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 Morgan. All the underground hits.
All DJ Sneak tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Kerrie Biddell 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 '70s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a marimba and an oboe and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Can record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought an organ.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
James Chance & The Contortions,
Faraquet,
Main Source,
Ten City,
Crash Course in Science,
The Fugs,
Bluetip,
The Divine Comedy,
The Velvet Underground,
Girls At Our Best!,
Alphaville,
Pierre Henry,
The Golliwogs,
Lebanon Hanover,
Depeche Mode,
Dave Gahan,
The Sonics,
Zapp,
the Slits,
Pulsallama,
Kerrie Biddell,
Eddi Front,
Negative Approach,
Severed Heads,
Loose Ends,
Model 500,
Eurythmics,
Darondo,
Unrelated Segments,
The Angels of Light,
A Certain Ratio,
Freddie Wadling,
The Fortunes,
The Birthday Party,
The Remains,
The Standells,
Lyres,
Pylon,
Matthew Halsall,
Joe Finger,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Tears for Fears,
B.T. Express,
Marvin Gaye,
Jeff Lynne,
Sight & Sound,
Animal Collective,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
The Busters,
The Smiths,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
Hoover,
K-Klass,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Fort Wilson Riot,
Jacques Brel,
The Barracudas,
Slick Rick,
Second Layer, Second Layer, Second Layer, Second Layer.
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.