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 Burkina and from Columbus.
But I was there.
I was there in 1978.
I was there at the first Visage show in 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 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in New York and Manchester.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Sao Paulo 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 snare sounds with much patience.
I was there when Donald Fagen 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 Rapeman to the punk kids.
I played it at the Crocodile.
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 Smiths. All the underground hits.
All Au Pairs tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every James Chance & The Contortions 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 snare and a mellotron and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Bad Manners record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a guitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
A Certain Ratio,
Albert Ayler,
Radiopuhelimet,
Franke,
The Beau Brummels,
Oppenheimer Analysis,
The Birthday Party,
Grauzone,
Moss Icon,
Roy Ayers,
The Offenders,
Johnny Osbourne,
X-101,
Animal Collective,
Fad Gadget,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
Mission of Burma,
The Leaves,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
Nils Olav,
The Chocolate Watch Band,
Skarface,
The Electric Prunes,
Lakeside,
Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu,
Gichy Dan,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
Deakin,
Spoonie Gee,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Juan Atkins,
Rufus Thomas,
Chris & Cosey,
Max Romeo,
Fatback Band,
Marc Romboy vs. Booka Shade,
Glambeats Corp.,
Rakim,
Wally Richardson,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
Hashim,
Quadrant,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Au Pairs,
Underground Resistance,
Eddi Front,
David Axelrod,
John Cale,
Glenn Branca,
Barclay James Harvest,
Piero Umiliani,
Letta Mbulu,
The Star Department,
Funkadelic,
Rosa Yemen,
Soul II Soul,
the Fania All-Stars,
Joyce Sims,
R.M.O.,
Beasts of Bourbon, Beasts of Bourbon, Beasts of Bourbon, Beasts of Bourbon.
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.