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 Papua New Guinea and from Glasgow.
But I was there.
I was there in 1971.
I was there at the first Neu! show in Düsseldorf.
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 1966 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Delhi and Houston.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Houston 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 clarinet sounds with much patience.
I was there when Nile Rodgers 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 Wake to the rap 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 Eric B and Rakim. All the underground hits.
All Buzzcocks tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Negative Approach record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rock 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 clarinet and a chamberlin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Gang Gang Dance record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a guitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Dennis Brown,
The Toasters,
Delon & Dalcan,
Colin Newman,
Al Stewart,
Darondo,
DJ Sneak,
The New Christs,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Lou Christie,
Lalo Schifrin,
Ultravox,
Erykah Badu,
Porter Ricks,
Marshall Jefferson,
Henry Cow,
Kerri Chandler,
Sun Ra,
Gichy Dan,
Drexciya,
the Normal,
Oblivians,
Minny Pops,
Swans,
Bobby Womack,
The American Breed,
F. McDonald,
DeepChord presents Echospace,
Scott Walker,
Bush Tetras,
Desert Stars,
Cameo,
the Fania All-Stars,
Pagans,
UT,
Guru Guru,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
Stetsasonic,
Theoretical Girls,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
A Certain Ratio,
Depeche Mode,
The Cramps,
Ice-T,
Shuggie Otis,
New Age Steppers,
Vainqueur,
Moebius,
ABC,
Minnie Riperton,
Kings Of Tomorrow,
Simply Red,
Bad Manners,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Roxy Music,
The Fugs,
La Düsseldorf,
B.T. Express,
The Litter,
Faraquet, Faraquet, Faraquet, Faraquet.
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.