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 New Zealand and from Madrid.
But I was there.
I was there in 1979.
I was there at the first Josef K show in Edinburgh.
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 Milan and Accra.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Bologna 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 marimba 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 Subhumans to the jazz kids.
I played it at the Spitz.
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 Birthday Party. All the underground hits.
All ABBA tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Wake 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 marimba and a guitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Ken Boothe record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your rhodes and bought a harpsichord.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a rhodes.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Suburban Knight,
a-ha,
Organ,
The Misunderstood,
Gang Gang Dance,
Alison Limerick,
Amon Düül II,
Kayak,
Scrapy,
Stockholm Monsters,
Leonard Cohen,
Roxy Music,
Aaron Thompson,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Blossom Toes,
Newcleus,
The Black Dice,
Quadrant,
DJ Sneak,
Banda Bassotti,
The Real Kids,
Half Japanese,
Erasure,
Soul Sonic Force,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
Rakim,
Technova,
Audionom,
Shuggie Otis,
the Fania All-Stars,
Mary Jane Girls,
Cecil Taylor,
Japan,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Neil Young,
Monolake,
Throbbing Gristle,
Scientists,
Archie Shepp,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
The Kinks,
Babytalk,
Nils Olav,
David Bowie,
Subhumans,
Bob Dylan,
Visionaries,LMNO, T- Love & Iriscience,
Bobby Sherman,
Q and Not U,
Yazoo,
The Detroit Cobras,
London Community Gospel Choir,
Skaos,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
Radio Birdman,
The Litter,
Fad Gadget,
The Mighty Diamonds,
the Slits,
Crispy Ambulance,
Drexciya, Drexciya, Drexciya, Drexciya.
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.