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 Chile and from Salvador.
But I was there.
I was there in 1976.
I was there at the first Soft Boys show in Cambridge.
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 1964 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Glasgow and Seoul.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Manchester 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 1968 at the first Bowie practice in a loft in Bromley.
I was working on the güiro 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 Soft Machine to the rap 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 The Trojans. All the underground hits.
All James White and The Blacks tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Reuben Wilson record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rap hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a theremin and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a James Chance & The Contortions record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a 808.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Hoover,
Crime,
The Associates,
Siglo XX,
Crispian St. Peters,
John Cale,
Howard Jones,
L. Decosne,
Television Personalities,
Beasts of Bourbon,
Lightning Bolt,
Patti Smith,
Lyres,
Tommy Roe,
Drive Like Jehu,
Jesper Dahlbäck,
Wire,
D'Angelo,
Sugar Minott,
Grandmaster Flash,
Porter Ricks,
Little Man,
The Count Five,
Dead Boys,
Eric Dolphy,
New York Dolls,
The Dead C,
Marc Romboy vs. Booka Shade,
Smog,
Joy Division,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Con Funk Shun,
Morten Harket,
Underground Resistance,
Dave Gahan,
Johnny Clarke,
The Tremeloes,
The Kinks,
Kerrie Biddell,
Stereo Dub,
FM Einheit,
Quando Quango,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
DJ Sneak,
Maurizio,
La Düsseldorf,
Eurythmics,
Barry Ungar,
Tom Boy,
Todd Rundgren,
KRS-One,
Bang On A Can,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
The Slackers,
Scott Walker,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Camron Feat. Jay Z And Juelz,
The Neon Judgement,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Lungfish,
Junior Murvin,
Slave, Slave, Slave, Slave.
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.