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 Mozambique and from Manchester.
But I was there.
I was there in 1976.
I was there at the first Chic show in New York.
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 1967 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Philadelphia and Madrid.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Toronto 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 1970 at the first Onyeabor practice in a loft in Enugu.
I was working on the clarinet sounds with much patience.
I was there when Robert Palmer 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 Godley & Creme to the funk kids.
I played it at the Troubador.
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 Mo-Dettes. All the underground hits.
All Mo-Dettes tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Wally Richardson record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rock hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying an arpeggiator and a theremin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Qualms record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a guitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a mellotron.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Joe Smooth,
Nirvana,
Camberwell Now,
Aural Exciters,
The Busters,
Brick,
Amon Düül,
Altered Images,
Bauhaus,
Crime,
Nils Olav,
Sam Rivers,
The Barracudas,
Joensuu 1685,
Country Teasers,
Larry & the Blue Notes,
The Red Krayola,
Crash Course in Science,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Reuben Wilson,
The American Breed,
Main Source,
The Golliwogs,
John Cale,
Pulsallama,
Alice Coltrane,
The Smoke,
Pussy Galore,
Scott Walker,
Joyce Sims,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
FM Einheit,
Beasts of Bourbon,
Bizarre Inc.,
DJ Sneak,
Blake Baxter,
Pagans,
LL Cool J,
Infiniti,
Magma,
Toni Rubio,
The Evens,
Lizzy Mercier Descloux,
These Immortal Souls,
Grey Daturas,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Ultramagnetic MC's,
The Slackers,
The Beau Brummels,
Dawn Penn,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
Howard Jones,
Rotary Connection,
Lindisfarne,
The Associates,
Arthur Verocai,
Rhythm & Sound,
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band,
Delon & Dalcan,
Archie Shepp,
Spandau Ballet, Spandau Ballet, Spandau Ballet, Spandau Ballet.
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.