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 Cuba and from Columbus.
But I was there.
I was there in 1977.
I was there at the first Zapp show in Hamilton.
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 1968 to 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Manila and Accra.
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 1971 at the first Selda practice in a loft in Istanbul.
I was working on the güiro 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 Alphaville to the punk kids.
I played it at the Troubador.
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 Big Daddy Kane. All the underground hits.
All Con Funk Shun tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Glambeats Corp. record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal crunk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a guitar and a spring reverb and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a One Last Wish record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a synthesizer.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Colin Newman,
The Mummies,
Aloha Tigers,
Morten Harket,
The Selecter,
Au Pairs,
Anthony Braxton,
Harpers Bizarre,
The United States of America,
Siglo XX,
Half Japanese,
Nils Olav,
Fad Gadget,
Massinfluence,
Flamin' Groovies,
Tomorrow,
Amazonics,
B.T. Express,
Alton Ellis,
Marine Girls,
Vladislav Delay,
Outsiders,
The Neon Judgement,
Mars,
Roxette,
Neil Young,
The Misunderstood,
Nation of Ulysses,
Brothers Johnson,
DeepChord presents Echospace,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Derrick May,
The Fugs,
Boz Scaggs,
Dennis Brown,
Gong,
Talk Talk,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
D'Angelo,
Icehouse,
Thee Headcoats,
Dave Gahan,
The Pretty Things,
Donald Byrd,
Agent Orange,
Bobby Hutcherson,
The Beau Brummels,
Nico,
Deepchord,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Ken Boothe,
Joyce Sims,
Minnie Riperton,
Clear Light,
Electric Light Orchestra,
Eyeless In Gaza,
Unrelated Segments,
Desert Stars,
Scrapy,
Niagra,
Prince Buster,
Cecil Taylor, Cecil Taylor, Cecil Taylor, Cecil Taylor.
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.