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 Lebanon and from Accra.
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 1965 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Accra and Lyon.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Philadelphia 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 1962 at the first Guess Who practice in a loft in Winnipeg.
I was working on the spring reverb 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 Wolf Eyes to the grime 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 Lower 48. All the underground hits.
All Kayak tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Pretty Things record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal dance hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a rhodes and a linndrum 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 marimba and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a marimba.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Outsiders,
Gang Gang Dance,
a-ha,
Stiv Bators,
Bronski Beat,
Crispy Ambulance,
Livin' Joy,
The Raincoats,
Parry Music,
Babytalk,
The Evens,
Easy Going,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
Popol Vuh,
The Men They Couldn't Hang,
Scott Walker + Sunn O))),
Magma,
Dennis Brown,
Brothers Johnson,
Section 25,
Ken Boothe,
Matthew Halsall,
Johnny Osbourne,
Joey Negro,
Nick Fraelich,
B.T. Express,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
Sixth Finger,
Traffic Nightmare,
Reuben Wilson,
Icehouse,
The Misunderstood,
The Barracudas,
Jerry's Kids,
The Moleskins,
Brick,
Roy Ayers,
Motorama,
Gil Scott Heron,
Bush Tetras,
Throbbing Gristle,
Henry Cow,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
Brass Construction,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Talk Talk,
Aloha Tigers,
The Busters,
Dawn Penn,
Leonard Cohen,
ABC,
Flipper,
Goldenarms,
Tommy Roe,
Donny Hathaway,
Absolute Body Control,
Agitation Free,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Camberwell Now,
Bauhaus,
Suburban Knight,
Radiohead,
Sonic Youth,
The Toasters, The Toasters, The Toasters, The Toasters.
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.