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 Guatemala and from Copenhagen.
But I was there.
I was there in 1976.
I was there at the first Feelies show in Haledon.
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 1964 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Beijing and Spokane.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Sao Paulo 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 1977 at the first Human League practice in a loft in Sheffield.
I was working on the marimba sounds with much patience.
I was there when Holger Czukay 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 Von Mondo to the grime kids.
I played it at the Hacienda.
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 Ituana. All the underground hits.
All Au Pairs tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Lightning Bolt record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rap hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a harpsichord and a spring reverb 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 an arpeggiator.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a guitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Siglo XX,
Pharoah Sanders,
Unrelated Segments,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Frankie Knuckles,
Average White Band,
The Blues Magoos,
Swans,
Rakim,
Roxy Music,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
The New Christs,
Little Man,
Scott Walker,
Heaven 17,
The Durutti Column,
Soul Sonic Force,
Avey Tare,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Black Sheep,
Archie Shepp,
Lightning Bolt,
Robert Görl,
Derrick Morgan,
Grandmaster Flash,
Vladislav Delay,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Selector Dub Narcotic,
Fugazi,
Khruangbin,
the Sonics,
Ultimate Spinach,
The Gap Band,
James Chance & The Contortions,
X-Ray Spex,
The Offenders,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Piero Umiliani,
Terror Squad Feat. Camron,
Moebius,
The Remains,
Symarip,
Flash Fearless,
Eddi Front,
Glambeats Corp.,
Boredoms,
Smog,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
The Detroit Cobras,
Thee Headcoats,
Peter and Kerry,
Rekid,
Nils Olav,
Lee Hazlewood,
Brand Nubian,
John Coltrane,
Althea and Donna,
Todd Terry,
Youth Brigade,
Bronski Beat,
Procol Harum,
Scratch Acid,
Cluster,
Arcadia, Arcadia, Arcadia, Arcadia.
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.