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 Suriname and from Glasgow.
But I was there.
I was there in 1983.
I was there at the first Lewis show in Vancouver.
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 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Seoul and New York.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Tehran 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 Robert Palmer 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 Red Lorry Yellow Lorry to the punk kids.
I played it at CBGB's.
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 Alice Coltrane. All the underground hits.
All Scott Walker + Sunn O))) tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Marmalade 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 '70s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a harpsichord and a spring reverb 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 sitar and bought a marimba.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a sitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
a-ha,
Johnny Clarke,
Warsaw,
Juan Atkins,
The Vogues,
Donny Hathaway,
Mad Mike,
Gichy Dan,
JFA,
Barclay James Harvest,
The Blues Magoos,
Mr. Review,
Amon Düül II,
The Gladiators,
CMW,
Kayak,
Prince Buster,
Skaos,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Gang Gang Dance,
Cybotron,
Stockholm Monsters,
Chris Corsano,
Skriet,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
The Skatalites,
Parry Music,
Lebanon Hanover,
Lou Reed,
Graham Central Station,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Drive Like Jehu,
Eric B and Rakim,
The Martian,
John Lydon,
Nirvana,
Joey Negro,
Kurtis Blow,
Kas Product,
Sexual Harrassment,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
Coldchain, Rosco P., Featuring Pusha T from Clipse & Boo-Bonic,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Desert Stars,
The Flesh Eaters,
Anakelly,
Judy Mowatt,
Danielle Patucci,
Surgeon,
the Normal,
The Offenders,
Magazine,
Nik Kershaw,
Whodini,
Tears for Fears,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
The Buckinghams,
Aaron Thompson,
The Last Poets,
Sugar Minott,
EPMD,
Deepchord,
Robert Wyatt, Robert Wyatt, Robert Wyatt, Robert Wyatt.
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.