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 Lyon.
But I was there.
I was there in 1967.
I was there at the first Rodriguez show in Detroit.
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 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Cairo and Hong Kong.
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 spring reverb 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 The Vogues to the rap kids.
I played it at the Roxy.
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 Alice Coltrane. All the underground hits.
All Thompson Twins tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Cheater Slicks record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grime hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a 808 and a marimba 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 arpeggiator and bought a güiro.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Masters at Work,
Arab on Radar,
Prince Buster,
The Mighty Diamonds,
Minor Threat,
The Dirtbombs,
Ten City,
Harpers Bizarre,
The Moody Blues,
DeepChord presents Echospace,
Lyres,
Crispian St. Peters,
Eve St. Jones,
John Lydon,
Zero Boys,
Fear,
The Sonics,
Chrome,
The Cure,
Joe Smooth,
The Raincoats,
The Shadows of Knight,
Nirvana,
The Fire Engines,
Khruangbin,
Lakeside,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282,
The Blues Magoos,
Aswad,
Agitation Free,
Eurythmics,
L. Decosne,
Mary Jane Girls,
Stetsasonic,
Grauzone,
The Electric Prunes,
The Misunderstood,
Johnny Clarke,
Television Personalities,
Crash Course in Science,
Siglo XX,
The Birthday Party,
Neil Young,
Kool Moe Dee,
Dave Gahan,
Ponytail,
David McCallum,
The Martian,
Beasts of Bourbon,
Sight & Sound,
Tomorrow,
Lee Hazlewood,
Newcleus,
Loose Ends,
Royal Trux,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Wolf Eyes,
Intrusion, Intrusion, Intrusion, Intrusion.
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.