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 Namibia and from Johannesburg.
But I was there.
I was there in 1970.
I was there at the first Onyeabor show in Enugu.
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 Accra and Columbus.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Beijing 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 Ubu practice in a loft in Cleveland.
I was working on the synthesizer sounds with much patience.
I was there when Captain Beefheart 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 Judy Mowatt to the dance 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 The Smoke. All the underground hits.
All Super Lover Cee & Casanova Rud tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Max Romeo 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 '90s.
I hear you're buying an arpeggiator and a chamberlin 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 clarinet and bought an organ.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
cv313,
Soul II Soul,
Quando Quango,
Todd Rundgren,
Ituana,
New York Dolls,
Scan 7,
Throbbing Gristle,
Coldchain, Rosco P., Featuring Pusha T from Clipse & Boo-Bonic,
The Litter,
Fear,
Be Bop Deluxe,
Royal Trux,
Pylon,
Deepchord,
Porter Ricks,
The Fire Engines,
The Tremeloes,
Skarface,
Shuggie Otis,
Dennis Brown,
Grandmaster Flash,
Jimmy McGriff,
Swell Maps,
The Durutti Column,
Alison Limerick,
Fifty Foot Hose,
Godley & Creme,
Nik Kershaw,
Maleditus Sound,
Quadrant,
the Soft Cell,
Nico,
Radio Birdman,
Glambeats Corp.,
Bauhaus,
Metal Thangz,
The Stooges,
Marcia Griffiths,
Tom Boy,
KRS-One,
Jerry Gold Smith,
Crooked Eye,
Saccharine Trust,
Brand Nubian,
Tim Buckley,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
Beasts of Bourbon,
The Modern Lovers,
the Sonics,
Notorious BIG live in Amsterdam,
Lucky Dragons,
The Evens,
Reagan Youth,
Stetsasonic,
Neu!,
James White and The Blacks,
Excepter,
Davy DMX,
Bobby Hutcherson,
Visage,
One Last Wish, One Last Wish, One Last Wish, One Last Wish.
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.