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 Mexico and from Glasgow.
But I was there.
I was there in 1968.
I was there at the first Bowie show in Bromley.
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 1965 to 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Spokane and Lagos.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Milan 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 1979 at the first Second Layer practice in a loft in South London.
I was working on the rhodes sounds with much patience.
I was there when Tom Verlaine 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 Scott Walker to the dance 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 ABC. All the underground hits.
All Eden Ahbez tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Sunsets and Hearts 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 '80s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a sitar and a clarinet and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Johnny Osbourne record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought an oboe.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a marimba.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
James Chance & The Contortions,
The United States of America,
Loose Ends,
kango's stein massive,
Niagra,
The Residents,
Wolf Eyes,
Porter Ricks,
Carl Craig,
Goldenarms,
World's Most,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Max Romeo,
The Durutti Column,
Brothers Johnson,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
Dennis Brown,
Animal Collective,
Gichy Dan,
ABC,
Gang of Four,
Michelle Simonal,
Radio Birdman,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Soulsonic Force,
KRS-One,
Marcia Griffiths,
Flamin' Groovies,
Be Bop Deluxe,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
Y Pants,
Bobby Womack,
Bauhaus,
Morten Harket,
June Days,
Dark Day,
David Bowie,
The Sonics,
Pantaleimon,
Hoover,
Flash Fearless,
Fela Kuti,
Minor Threat,
The Buckinghams,
Stetsasonic,
Aaron Thompson,
MDC,
Nils Olav,
A Certain Ratio,
The Shadows of Knight,
Heaven 17,
Eurythmics,
Angry Samoans,
Underground Resistance,
Hot Snakes,
Suicide,
Amazonics,
Bobbi Humphrey,
Gang Green,
Bootsy Collins,
Blancmange,
Alice Coltrane,
The Young Rascals,
The Golliwogs, The Golliwogs, The Golliwogs, The Golliwogs.
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.