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 Ivory Coast and from Tehran.
But I was there.
I was there in 1971.
I was there at the first Selda show in Istanbul.
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 1968 to 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Spokane and Spokane.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Cairo 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 1987 at the first Nirvana practice in a loft in Seattle.
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 Eddi Front to the electroclash kids.
I played it at the 40 Watt.
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 Gil Scott Heron. All the underground hits.
All DJ Sneak tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Parry Music record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal disco hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a 808 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 guitar and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a guitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
These Immortal Souls,
The Zeros,
Connie Case,
Banda Bassotti,
Marcia Griffiths,
Bauhaus,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
Bush Tetras,
Matthew Halsall,
Robert Hood,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
UT,
Simply Red,
Nirvana,
Bobby Hutcherson,
Harry Pussy,
Wire,
Los Fastidios,
The Grass Roots,
The Last Poets,
the Association,
Lucky Dragons,
E-Dancer,
X-101,
The Sonics,
Bobby Byrd,
Archie Shepp,
Soul II Soul,
Sparks,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
The Martian,
Erasure,
Hardrive,
Von Mondo,
Bootsy Collins,
World's Most,
Minny Pops,
Roxette,
Isaac Hayes,
Blancmange,
The Motions,
Ituana,
Pulsallama,
The Litter,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
Mary Jane Girls,
Fat Boys,
Motorama,
Interpol,
Maleditus Sound,
the Bar-Kays,
Lower 48,
Gastr Del Sol,
Royal Trux,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Lightning Bolt,
Agent Orange,
Tres Demented,
John Coltrane,
Camouflage,
The Fugs,
ABBA,
Sarah Menescal, Sarah Menescal, Sarah Menescal, Sarah Menescal.
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.