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 Russia and from Manchester.
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 1965 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Johannesburg and Philadelphia.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Portland 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 chamberlin sounds with much patience.
I was there when Michael McDonald 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 Cosmic Jokers to the rock 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 Minnie Riperton. All the underground hits.
All Camberwell Now tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Gregory Isaacs record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grime hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a theremin and a synthesizer and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Birthday Party 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?
Severed Heads,
Gang of Four,
Pantytec,
Talk Talk,
Pantaleimon,
Zapp,
Fatback Band,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
Letta Mbulu,
Au Pairs,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Isaac Hayes,
Lalann,
Iggy Pop,
Bootsy Collins,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
Mo-Dettes,
Terrestrial Tones,
Alphaville,
The Dirtbombs,
Terry Callier,
EPMD,
Thee Headcoats,
Notorious Big And Bone Thugs,
Skaos,
Blake Baxter,
James White and The Blacks,
Max Romeo,
Echospace,
Jeff Lynne,
Joe Finger,
These Immortal Souls,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Ludus,
Electric Prunes,
The Evens,
Simply Red,
X-Ray Spex,
Barrington Levy,
Cybotron,
Liliput,
Interpol,
Sam Rivers,
Steve Hackett,
The Victims,
Frankie Knuckles,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
The Beau Brummels,
A Certain Ratio,
Negative Approach,
Swell Maps,
Joe Smooth,
KRS-One,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Barclay James Harvest,
The Doors,
Kings Of Tomorrow,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Aswad,
the Human League,
Eli Mardock,
Leonard Cohen, Leonard Cohen, Leonard Cohen, Leonard Cohen.
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.