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 Comoros and from Jakarta.
But I was there.
I was there in 1980.
I was there at the first Cybotron 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 1966 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Manchester and Accra.
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 1983 at the first Art of Noise practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the mellotron sounds with much patience.
I was there when Tom Verlaine 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 Erykah Badu to the techno 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 The Smiths. All the underground hits.
All Johnny Clarke tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Dennis Brown record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grunge hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a spring reverb and a harpsichord 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 organ and bought a snare.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought an organ.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Flamin' Groovies,
The Residents,
The Real Kids,
R.M.O.,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Gabor Szabo,
Minor Threat,
The American Breed,
Joe Smooth,
The Mummies,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Tubeway Army,
One Last Wish,
Eve St. Jones,
The Evens,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse,
In Retrospect,
Sugar Minott,
Half Japanese,
Country Joe & The Fish,
Livin' Joy,
Das Ding,
Panda Bear,
Zapp,
The Five Americans,
Godley & Creme,
Gang of Four,
Cheater Slicks,
Massinfluence,
Roxy Music,
Alison Limerick,
Sixth Finger,
Grey Daturas,
Althea and Donna,
Inner City,
The Fuzztones,
The Grass Roots,
Super Lover Cee & Casanova Rud,
Mandrill,
Lakeside,
Steve Hackett,
The Remains,
John Cale,
The Sonics,
Joy Division,
L. Decosne,
Boz Scaggs,
The Martian,
Sarah Menescal,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
Black Flag,
The Divine Comedy,
Make Up,
Ponytail,
The Sound,
Lee Hazlewood,
Underground Resistance, Underground Resistance, Underground Resistance, Underground Resistance.
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.