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 Seychelles and from Winnipeg.
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 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Johannesburg and Edmonton.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Taipei 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 Feelies practice in a loft in Haledon.
I was working on the linndrum 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 Drexciya to the electroclash 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 Flamin' Groovies. All the underground hits.
All The Five Americans tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Young Rascals record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal punk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a 808 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 arpeggiator and bought a chamberlin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Japan,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
The Blues Magoos,
D'Angelo,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
Rowland S Howard / Lydia Lunch,
Boz Scaggs,
Hardrive,
The Monochrome Set,
John Lydon,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
Basic Channel,
Mary Jane Girls,
Cymande,
Roger Hodgson,
Ituana,
Con Funk Shun,
The Sonics,
The Victims,
Chris Corsano,
Stereo Dub,
Todd Rundgren,
Ultra Naté,
Peter and Kerry,
Alice Coltrane,
Silicon Teens,
Saccharine Trust,
The Fire Engines,
Quantec,
Girls At Our Best!,
Subhumans,
Davy DMX,
The Zeros,
Prince Buster,
Crime,
Jesper Dahlback,
CMW,
Pere Ubu,
Albert Ayler,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
Gastr Del Sol,
The Divine Comedy,
The Chocolate Watch Band,
Buzzcocks,
The Flesh Eaters,
The United States of America,
Accadde A,
Tubeway Army,
The Men They Couldn't Hang,
Crooked Eye,
Selector Dub Narcotic,
New York Dolls,
Lalann,
Whodini,
The Birthday Party,
Fat Boys,
Interpol,
Au Pairs,
Skarface,
The Cowsills,
Kerrie Biddell,
Liaisons Dangereuses, Liaisons Dangereuses, Liaisons Dangereuses, Liaisons Dangereuses.
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.