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 Botswana and from Tokyo.
But I was there.
I was there in 1968.
I was there at the first Can show in Cologne.
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 1960 to 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Mexico City and Tehran.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Philadelphia 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 organ 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 Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark 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 Doobie Brothers. All the underground hits.
All John Foxx tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Flesh Eaters record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal dance hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a marimba and a clarinet and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Manfred Mann's Earth Band record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought an oboe.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a sitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Idris Muhammad,
Thompson Twins,
Fort Wilson Riot,
The Chocolate Watch Band,
Public Image Ltd.,
Lalann,
Altered Images,
Thee Headcoats,
Robert Görl,
T.S.O.L.,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
Schoolly D,
Radiopuhelimet,
These Immortal Souls,
Peter & Gordon,
Notorious BIG live in Amsterdam,
The Monochrome Set,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Barrington Levy,
Johnny Clarke,
Kings Of Tomorrow,
Section 25,
Arthur Verocai,
Tomorrow,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Bobby Hutcherson,
JFA,
Alice Coltrane,
Fugazi,
Mars,
Jacques Brel,
Donny Hathaway,
Oblivians,
Surgeon,
Darondo,
Lou Reed,
The Selecter,
Deepchord,
Soul Sonic Force,
Scientists,
the Normal,
James Chance & The Contortions,
The Fall,
Guru Guru,
Visionaries,LMNO, T- Love & Iriscience,
Roy Ayers,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
The Barracudas,
The Angels of Light,
Lower 48,
Pulsallama,
David Axelrod,
Jeru the Damaja,
Rhythm & Sound,
Television Personalities,
the Sonics,
Super Lover Cee & Casanova Rud,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
Spandau Ballet,
Procol Harum,
Kayak,
Livin' Joy, Livin' Joy, Livin' Joy, Livin' Joy.
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.