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 Nepal and from Glasgow.
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 1963 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Cairo and Lille.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Manila 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 1978 at the first Visage practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the organ sounds with much patience.
I was there when Robert Palmer 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 Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson to the funk kids.
I played it at the 40 Watt.
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 John Coltrane. All the underground hits.
All Red Lorry Yellow Lorry tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Tropical Tobacco 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 '50s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying an oboe and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Qualms record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought a guitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a spring reverb.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Mark Hollis,
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282,
Metal Thangz,
Shuggie Otis,
DJ Style,
Iggy Pop,
The Monks,
Vladislav Delay,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Cybotron,
Unrelated Segments,
Jeff Mills,
Bobby Byrd,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
Swans,
Dorothy Ashby,
Simply Red,
Scratch Acid,
John Holt,
EPMD,
The Mojo Men,
Minutemen,
Boogie Down Productions,
Scion,
Joey Negro,
Saccharine Trust,
UT,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
Eric B and Rakim,
Rod Modell,
Lizzy Mercier Descloux,
Khruangbin,
Minnie Riperton,
The Count Five,
The Mighty Diamonds,
Isaac Hayes,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Ajijia Myrayebe,
U.S. Maple,
Camron Feat. Jay Z And Juelz,
Oppenheimer Analysis,
Joe Finger,
Steve Hackett,
Matthew Halsall,
Crash Course in Science,
The Velvet Underground,
Bizarre Inc.,
the Slits,
The Angels of Light,
David McCallum,
Scan 7,
In Retrospect,
The Doobie Brothers,
Amon Düül II,
The Alarm Clocks,
The Happenings,
Gang Gang Dance,
Lindisfarne,
Kings Of Tomorrow,
Mary Jane Girls,
AZ,
Sam Rivers, Sam Rivers, Sam Rivers, Sam Rivers.
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.