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 South Sudan and from Jakarta.
But I was there.
I was there in 1976.
I was there at the first Feelies show in Haledon.
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 Philadelphia and Woodstock.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Milan 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 1975 at the first Throbbing Gristle practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the synthesizer 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 H. Thieme to the dance 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 Talk Talk. All the underground hits.
All the Slits tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Traffic Nightmare record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal crunk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying an arpeggiator and a spring reverb 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 snare and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Tubeway Army,
Country Teasers,
The Motions,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Intrusion,
Ultimate Spinach,
Moss Icon,
The Gun Club,
Eyeless In Gaza,
Audionom,
Black Moon,
Reagan Youth,
The Divine Comedy,
John Coltrane,
Minnie Riperton,
Sticky Fingaz feat. Raekwon,
Jerry Gold Smith,
Lyres,
Henry Cow,
Eve St. Jones,
Peter and Kerry,
Alton Ellis,
Bang On A Can,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Kenny Larkin,
Matthew Halsall,
Blancmange,
Kurtis Blow,
Bobby Sherman,
Warren Ellis,
Mantronix,
Pantytec,
Grauzone,
Tres Demented,
Absolute Body Control,
Funkadelic,
Kool Moe Dee,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
The Fire Engines,
Brick,
Coldchain, Rosco P., Featuring Pusha T from Clipse & Boo-Bonic,
Johnny Osbourne,
The Beau Brummels,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Electric Light Orchestra,
Blake Baxter,
Toni Rubio,
Lou Christie,
Second Layer,
Ice-T,
The Move,
The Music Machine,
The Victims,
ABBA,
The Martian,
Be Bop Deluxe,
Kas Product,
the Soft Cell,
Livin' Joy,
Fatback Band,
Tom Boy,
Nils Olav,
Patti Smith, Patti Smith, Patti Smith, Patti Smith.
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.