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 Delhi.
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 1969 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Taipei and New York.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Edmonton 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 chamberlin sounds with much patience.
I was there when Lou Reed 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 Pharoah Sanders to the jazz kids.
I played it at the Spitz.
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 F. McDonald. All the underground hits.
All James Chance & The Contortions tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Amon Düül II record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal funk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a mellotron and a harpsichord 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 chamberlin and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a chamberlin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Soulsonic Force,
The Toasters,
Amazonics,
Bob Dylan,
Gerry Rafferty,
Jerry's Kids,
David Bowie,
The Knickerbockers,
The Last Poets,
Pylon,
Yellowson,
The Litter,
Vainqueur,
Soft Machine,
Goldenarms,
Tom Boy,
The Human League,
New Order,
Ludus,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
The Leaves,
Sound Behaviour,
Bobby Sherman,
Supertramp,
the Fania All-Stars,
Qualms,
Visionaries,LMNO, T- Love & Iriscience,
Japan,
Andrew Hill,
Gong,
X-102,
Nick Fraelich,
Pole,
The Dead C,
The Moody Blues,
Q65,
Althea and Donna,
Public Enemy,
Underground Resistance,
Trumans Water,
Eyeless In Gaza,
The Slits,
Clear Light,
The Fortunes,
Barbara Tucker,
Popol Vuh,
Procol Harum,
Bad Manners,
These Immortal Souls,
Brass Construction,
Lightning Bolt,
Sällskapet,
Joey Negro,
Bobby Byrd,
Niagra,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
The Busters,
Barry Ungar,
Idris Muhammad,
Sister Nancy,
The Smiths,
Half Japanese,
Letta Mbulu, Letta Mbulu, Letta Mbulu, Letta Mbulu.
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.