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 Turkey and from New York.
But I was there.
I was there in 1965.
I was there at the first Beefheart show in Lancaster.
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 1963 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Cairo and Bremen.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lagos 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 chamberlin 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 Ralphi Rosario to the punk kids.
I played it at the Spitz.
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 Rhythm & Sound. All the underground hits.
All Gang Gang Dance tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Marc Romboy vs. Booka Shade 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 '70s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a theremin and a sitar 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 sitar and bought an oboe.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a sitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Wire,
Joyce Sims,
Liliput,
Clear Light,
Visage,
Television Personalities,
PIL,
Kool Moe Dee,
Vainqueur,
Ronan,
Oneida,
Qualms,
Soulsonic Force,
Davy DMX,
Pussy Galore,
World's Most,
Sex Pistols,
The Fugs,
Mandrill,
Frankie Knuckles,
Lightning Bolt,
Depeche Mode,
the Slits,
Bobbi Humphrey,
Basic Channel,
UT,
Porter Ricks,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Roger Hodgson,
Silicon Teens,
Warren Ellis,
Minor Threat,
The Dirtbombs,
Fifty Foot Hose,
Cymande,
Kings Of Tomorrow,
Joy Division,
Rufus Thomas,
Colin Newman,
Mad Mike,
Das Ding,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse,
Howard Jones,
Rosa Yemen,
Bauhaus,
Soul II Soul,
Unrelated Segments,
Swans,
Echospace,
Skarface,
Goldenarms,
Smog,
Aloha Tigers,
Stiv Bators,
Organ,
The Human League,
Hashim,
Talk Talk,
Robert Wyatt, Robert Wyatt, Robert Wyatt, Robert Wyatt.
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.