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 Maldives and from Philadelphia.
But I was there.
I was there in 1976.
I was there at the first Buzzcocks show in Bolton.
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 1961 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Houston and Calgary.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Glasgow 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 harpsichord 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 Banda Bassotti to the funk 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 Rufus Thomas. All the underground hits.
All Sonic Youth tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Slave 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 güiro and a mellotron 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 mellotron and bought a harpsichord.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a mellotron.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Derrick Morgan,
Reagan Youth,
Joe Smooth,
L. Decosne,
Gastr Del Sol,
Boogie Down Productions,
The Raincoats,
Oneida,
Erykah Badu,
Bad Manners,
Flash Fearless,
Country Teasers,
The Leaves,
Pierre Henry,
Joey Negro,
The Monks,
Gabor Szabo,
Derrick May,
The Searchers,
Scrapy,
EPMD,
Major Organ And The Adding Machine,
Lalann,
Terrestrial Tones,
The Golliwogs,
Niagra,
Bluetip,
Piero Umiliani,
Brothers Johnson,
Surgeon,
Kurtis Blow,
The Modern Lovers,
The Grass Roots,
The Litter,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Roger Hodgson,
Procol Harum,
Man Eating Sloth,
Blancmange,
Hardrive,
The J.B.'s,
Davy DMX,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Rod Modell,
The Sonics,
The Slackers,
Andrew Hill,
Ludus,
Donald Byrd,
Pagans,
Ponytail,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Negative Approach,
DJ Style,
The Invisible,
Sun Ra,
The Electric Prunes,
Intrusion,
The Barracudas,
Infiniti,
Parry Music,
Spoonie Gee,
The Gories,
Tommy Roe, Tommy Roe, Tommy Roe, Tommy Roe.
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.