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 Djibouti and from Mumbai.
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 1964 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Tehran and London.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school London 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 Chic practice in a loft in New York.
I was working on the spring reverb sounds with much patience.
I was there when Holger Czukay 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 Lebanon Hanover to the techno kids.
I played it at Trash.
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 Circle Jerks. All the underground hits.
All Radio Birdman tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Althea and Donna record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal funk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying an arpeggiator and a clarinet and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Bill Near record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought a 808.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a spring reverb.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Wire,
Rhythm & Sound,
Eric Copeland,
The Sonics,
The Gories,
Soft Cell,
Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu,
The Pop Group,
Peter & Gordon,
Skriet,
Spandau Ballet,
Siglo XX,
Tears for Fears,
Motorama,
The Evens,
Popol Vuh,
Fort Wilson Riot,
Cheater Slicks,
Babytalk,
The Smiths,
The Smoke,
In Retrospect,
Depeche Mode,
Bill Wells,
Nico,
Donny Hathaway,
The Count Five,
Guru Guru,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Tim Buckley,
Peter and Kerry,
The Barracudas,
Joyce Sims,
Camouflage,
Roxy Music,
Electric Prunes,
Barbara Tucker,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
Surgeon,
This Heat,
The Buckinghams,
Warren Ellis,
Don Cherry,
Piero Umiliani,
the Germs,
UT,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Pussy Galore,
Fugazi,
The Doobie Brothers,
Bang On A Can,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Spoonie Gee,
The Cure,
Tubeway Army,
Silicon Teens,
Boredoms,
Traffic Nightmare,
Harmonia,
Sparks,
The Shadows of Knight, The Shadows of Knight, The Shadows of Knight, The Shadows of Knight.
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.