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 Monaco and from Tehran.
But I was there.
I was there in 1979.
I was there at the first Josef K show in Edinburgh.
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 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Shanghai and Mumbai.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Johannesburg 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 1979 at the first Josef K practice in a loft in Edinburgh.
I was working on the güiro 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 Rhythm & Sound to the disco kids.
I played it at Cafe Wha.
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 Cramps. All the underground hits.
All James Chance & The Contortions tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Ronnie Foster 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 '80s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a 808 and a clarinet 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 808.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought an organ.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Second Layer,
Nils Olav,
Joe Finger,
Easy Going,
John Holt,
Can,
The Residents,
Yaz,
Crime,
Connie Case,
Ken Boothe,
Michelle Simonal,
Aswad,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
The Moleskins,
Rosa Yemen,
Jeff Mills,
Letta Mbulu,
Trumans Water,
Agent Orange,
T. Rex,
Marvin Gaye,
the Normal,
Youth Brigade,
Jerry Gold Smith,
Cybotron,
FM Einheit,
Yusef Lateef,
Lou Christie,
Lower 48,
Nas,
Kings Of Tomorrow,
Mantronix,
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
Altered Images,
Theoretical Girls,
Slave,
Mark Hollis,
Electric Prunes,
The Happenings,
Pussy Galore,
Young Marble Giants,
Funky Four + One,
Throbbing Gristle,
Jacques Brel,
Joy Division,
The Stooges,
Glambeats Corp.,
Blake Baxter,
Alison Limerick,
The Monks,
Eli Mardock,
The Toasters,
Brothers Johnson,
Tubeway Army,
The Gories,
Whodini,
Jawbox,
Buzzcocks,
Cymande,
Au Pairs,
Simply Red, Simply Red, Simply Red, Simply Red.
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.