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 Colombia and from Tehran.
But I was there.
I was there in 1967.
I was there at the first Rodriguez show in Detroit.
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 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Hong Kong and Manila.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Jakarta 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 Second Layer practice in a loft in South London.
I was working on the arpeggiator 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 Stereo Dub to the dance kids.
I played it at the Crocodile.
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 Minor Threat. All the underground hits.
All Sly & The Family Stone tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Japan record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rock hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a chamberlin and a guitar 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 arpeggiator and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
John Cale,
Dennis Brown,
Urselle,
Rotary Connection,
Soft Cell,
Lucky Dragons,
Alice Coltrane,
Eurythmics,
Brick,
Cheater Slicks,
Isaac Hayes,
John Lydon,
Art Ensemble Of Chicago,
Lindisfarne,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
The Smoke,
Jimmy McGriff,
Rhythm & Sound,
The Mojo Men,
The Pop Group,
Don Cherry,
The Gun Club,
OOIOO,
Neil Young,
Pagans,
Radiohead,
Hot Snakes,
Terror Squad Feat. Camron,
Donald Byrd,
Oneida,
Q and Not U,
Jacob Miller,
The New Christs,
Terry Callier,
The Victims,
Metal Thangz,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Agitation Free,
The Real Kids,
New York Dolls,
Lou Christie,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Howard Jones,
Nik Kershaw,
The Velvet Underground,
Robert Wyatt,
Skriet,
Shoche,
Bill Near,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
Ken Boothe,
Sound Behaviour,
Arab on Radar,
Can,
Pantaleimon,
Bang On A Can,
Black Flag,
Chrome,
Hashim,
Judy Mowatt, Judy Mowatt, Judy Mowatt, Judy Mowatt.
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.