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 Indonesia and from Mumbai.
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 1968 to 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Madrid and Copenhagen.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Winnipeg 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 1970 at the first Onyeabor practice in a loft in Enugu.
I was working on the synthesizer 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 Public Image Ltd. to the disco kids.
I played it at the Astoria.
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 Bluetip. All the underground hits.
All The Cure tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Swans record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal electroclash hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a clarinet and an organ 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 linndrum and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a linndrum.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Knickerbockers,
Oppenheimer Analysis,
Kool Moe Dee,
Colin Newman,
The Martian,
The Remains,
Chris & Cosey,
Saccharine Trust,
Gang Starr,
World's Most,
Ten City,
Laurel Aitken,
Fear,
Sam Rivers,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Bad Manners,
Japan,
Terror Squad Feat. Camron,
Basic Channel,
Gerry Rafferty,
Kenny Larkin,
The Sonics,
Wally Richardson,
Stiv Bators,
The Mojo Men,
The Fortunes,
Hoover,
Wings,
Big Daddy Kane,
Derrick May,
The Red Krayola,
Simply Red,
the Fania All-Stars,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
The Associates,
Boz Scaggs,
Alice Coltrane,
Isaac Hayes,
Eve St. Jones,
Godley & Creme,
Mo-Dettes,
Swans,
Andrew Hill,
DJ Sneak,
Desert Stars,
Jacob Miller,
China Crisis,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
Jimmy McGriff,
Audionom,
Y Pants,
Max Romeo,
Barrington Levy,
Franke,
the Bar-Kays,
Danielle Patucci,
The Durutti Column,
New York Dolls,
the Association,
Brick,
Barbara Tucker,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark.
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.