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 South Africa and from Columbus.
But I was there.
I was there in 1971.
I was there at the first Neu! show in Düsseldorf.
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 1966 to 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Houston and Halifax.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Salvador 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 1976 at the first Chic practice in a loft in New York.
I was working on the theremin sounds with much patience.
I was there when Donald Fagen 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 Thee Headcoats to the grunge kids.
I played it at Trash.
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 Eric B and Rakim. All the underground hits.
All Angry Samoans tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Moody Blues record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal techno 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 an organ and an arpeggiator 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 rhodes and bought a guitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a rhodes.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
8 Eyed Spy,
Unwound,
Pierre Henry,
Avey Tare,
Bang On A Can,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Soft Cell,
Newcleus,
David McCallum,
Fugazi,
Jesper Dahlback,
Sonic Youth,
Ralphi Rosario,
A Certain Ratio,
John Coltrane,
B.T. Express,
Bob Dylan,
Rites of Spring,
The Divine Comedy,
JFA,
Motorama,
Camouflage,
Matthew Halsall,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
Von Mondo,
Lebanon Hanover,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
Second Layer,
Bobby Hutcherson,
Ash Ra Tempel,
The Fortunes,
Masters at Work,
Gregory Isaacs,
Warren Ellis,
Brand Nubian,
Heaven 17,
Mars,
the Slits,
The Residents,
Sunsets and Hearts,
KRS-One,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
Judy Mowatt,
Maleditus Sound,
Barclay James Harvest,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
Das Ding,
June of 44,
Zero Boys,
Scion,
Terry Callier,
Pussy Galore,
David Bowie,
Faraquet, Faraquet, Faraquet, Faraquet.
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.