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 Kosovo and from Madrid.
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 1966 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Johannesburg and Bremen.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Manchester 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 1983 at the first Art of Noise practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the marimba sounds with much patience.
I was there when Tom Verlaine 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 Kevin Saunderson 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 Lucky Dragons. All the underground hits.
All Iggy Pop tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Lakeside record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grime 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 synthesizer 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 synthesizer and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a synthesizer.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Steve Hackett,
the Association,
Stiv Bators,
Pantaleimon,
The Fuzztones,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
The Stooges,
KRS-One,
Lebanon Hanover,
Ohio Players,
Erykah Badu,
Young Marble Giants,
The Pop Group,
Ultra Naté,
Negative Approach,
Beasts of Bourbon,
The Searchers,
The Motions,
Marcia Griffiths,
Godley & Creme,
the Bar-Kays,
Barclay James Harvest,
Rekid,
The Dave Clark Five,
AZ,
Panda Bear,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
The Seeds,
Qualms,
The Barracudas,
The Skatalites,
The Offenders,
L. Decosne,
Scratch Acid,
Sandy B,
Reuben Wilson,
Roxette,
Adolescents,
Morten Harket,
The Blues Magoos,
Accadde A,
The Toasters,
The Beau Brummels,
The Index,
John Lydon,
Royal Trux,
Reagan Youth,
Deepchord,
Joensuu 1685,
Don Cherry,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Motorama,
Bobby Byrd,
Gang Starr,
Pere Ubu,
The Music Machine,
D'Angelo,
Masters at Work,
Dead Boys, Dead Boys, Dead Boys, Dead Boys.
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.