Gil Scott-Heron
Gil Scott-Heron (born April 1, 1949 in Chicago, died May 27, 2011 in New York City) was an American poet and musician, known primarily for his late 1960s and early 1970s work as a spoken word performer, associated with African American militant activists. Heron is perhaps most well known for his poems/songs "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" and "What's the Word - Johannesburg" a movement hit during the 1980's South Africa college and national divestment movement in the United States of America. Read Full BioGil Scott-Heron (born April 1, 1949 in Chicago, died May 27, 2011 in New York City) was an American poet and musician, known primarily for his late 1960s and early 1970s work as a spoken word performer, associated with African American militant activists. Heron is perhaps most well known for his poems/songs "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" and "What's the Word - Johannesburg" a movement hit during the 1980's South Africa college and national divestment movement in the United States of America.
He began recording in 1970 with the LP Small Talk at 125th and Lenox with the assistance of Bob Thiele Flying Dutchman Records, co-writer Brian Jackson, Hubert Laws, Bernard Purdie (who later recorded "Delights of the Garden" with The Last Poets), Charlie Saunders, Eddie Knowles, Ron Carter and Bert Jones, all jazz musicians (see 1970 in music). The album included the aggressive diatribe against white-owned corporate media and middle-class America's ignorance of the problems of inner cities in songs such as Whitey On The Moon.
The 1971 Pieces of a Man used more conventional song structures than the loose, spoken word feel of his first, though he didn't reach the charts until 1975 with "Johannesburg". His biggest hit was 1978's "The Bottle", produced by Heron and longtime partner Brian Jackson, which peaked at #15 on the R&B charts (see 1978 in music).
In 2001, Gil Scott-Heron was sentenced to one to three years' imprisonment in New York State for possession of cocaine. While out of jail in 2002, he appeared on the Blazing Arrow album by Blackalicious. He was released on parole in 2003. On July 5, 2006, Scott-Heron was sentenced to two to four years in a New York State prison for violating a plea deal on a drug-possession charge by leaving a drug rehabilitation center. Scott-Heron's sentence was to run until July 13, 2009. He was paroled on May 23, 2007. The reason given for the violation of his plea was that the clinic refused to supply Scott-Heron with HIV medication. This story led to the presumption that the artist is HIV positive.
After his release, Scott-Heron began performing live again, starting with a show at SOBs in New York on September 13, 2007. On stage, he stated that he and his musicians were working on a new album and that he had resumed writing a book titled The Last Holiday, previously on long-term hiatus, about Stevie Wonder and his successful attempt to have the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. declared a federally recognized holiday in the United States.
He was arrested October 10, 2007, the day before a scheduled (but ultimately cancelled) second SOBs performance, on felony possession of cocaine charges. However, he has continued to make live appearances at various US venues during the course of 2008 and 2009, including further appearances at SOBs in New York. He has also stated in interviews that work is continuing on his new album, which will consist mainly of new versions of some of his classic songs plus some cover versions of other artists' work.
Having originally planned to publish The Last Holiday in 2003, before it was put on hold, Canongate Books now tentatively intend to issue it in January, 2011. The book was due to be previewed via a website set to be launched on April 1, 2009, but this did not appear.
Mark T. Watson, a student of Scott-Heron's work, dedicated a collection of poetry to Gil titled Ordinary Guy that contained a foreword by Jalal Mansur Nuriddin of The Last Poets. The book was published in the UK in 2004 by Fore-Word Press Ltd. Scott-Heron recorded one of the poems in Watson's book Black & Blue due for release in 2008 as part of the album Rhythms of the Diaspora by Malik & the OG's on the record label CPR Recordings.
Gil Scott-Heron released his new album I'm New Here on independent label XL Recordings on February 9, 2010. Produced by XL label owner Richard Russell, 'I'm New Here' is Scott-Heron's first album in thirteen years.The pair started recording the album in 2007, with the majority of the record being recorded over the last twelve months with engineer Lawson White at Clinton Studios in New York. In 2009, a new Gil Scott-Heron website, www.gilscottheron.net , was launched with a brand new track 'Where Did The Night Go' made available as a free download from the site.
In 2011, Scott-Heron released "We're New Here" a remix album which was a collaboration with Jamie xx, a member of the British indie band The xx. Scott-Heron died in New York City on May 27, 2011.
He began recording in 1970 with the LP Small Talk at 125th and Lenox with the assistance of Bob Thiele Flying Dutchman Records, co-writer Brian Jackson, Hubert Laws, Bernard Purdie (who later recorded "Delights of the Garden" with The Last Poets), Charlie Saunders, Eddie Knowles, Ron Carter and Bert Jones, all jazz musicians (see 1970 in music). The album included the aggressive diatribe against white-owned corporate media and middle-class America's ignorance of the problems of inner cities in songs such as Whitey On The Moon.
The 1971 Pieces of a Man used more conventional song structures than the loose, spoken word feel of his first, though he didn't reach the charts until 1975 with "Johannesburg". His biggest hit was 1978's "The Bottle", produced by Heron and longtime partner Brian Jackson, which peaked at #15 on the R&B charts (see 1978 in music).
In 2001, Gil Scott-Heron was sentenced to one to three years' imprisonment in New York State for possession of cocaine. While out of jail in 2002, he appeared on the Blazing Arrow album by Blackalicious. He was released on parole in 2003. On July 5, 2006, Scott-Heron was sentenced to two to four years in a New York State prison for violating a plea deal on a drug-possession charge by leaving a drug rehabilitation center. Scott-Heron's sentence was to run until July 13, 2009. He was paroled on May 23, 2007. The reason given for the violation of his plea was that the clinic refused to supply Scott-Heron with HIV medication. This story led to the presumption that the artist is HIV positive.
After his release, Scott-Heron began performing live again, starting with a show at SOBs in New York on September 13, 2007. On stage, he stated that he and his musicians were working on a new album and that he had resumed writing a book titled The Last Holiday, previously on long-term hiatus, about Stevie Wonder and his successful attempt to have the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. declared a federally recognized holiday in the United States.
He was arrested October 10, 2007, the day before a scheduled (but ultimately cancelled) second SOBs performance, on felony possession of cocaine charges. However, he has continued to make live appearances at various US venues during the course of 2008 and 2009, including further appearances at SOBs in New York. He has also stated in interviews that work is continuing on his new album, which will consist mainly of new versions of some of his classic songs plus some cover versions of other artists' work.
Having originally planned to publish The Last Holiday in 2003, before it was put on hold, Canongate Books now tentatively intend to issue it in January, 2011. The book was due to be previewed via a website set to be launched on April 1, 2009, but this did not appear.
Mark T. Watson, a student of Scott-Heron's work, dedicated a collection of poetry to Gil titled Ordinary Guy that contained a foreword by Jalal Mansur Nuriddin of The Last Poets. The book was published in the UK in 2004 by Fore-Word Press Ltd. Scott-Heron recorded one of the poems in Watson's book Black & Blue due for release in 2008 as part of the album Rhythms of the Diaspora by Malik & the OG's on the record label CPR Recordings.
Gil Scott-Heron released his new album I'm New Here on independent label XL Recordings on February 9, 2010. Produced by XL label owner Richard Russell, 'I'm New Here' is Scott-Heron's first album in thirteen years.The pair started recording the album in 2007, with the majority of the record being recorded over the last twelve months with engineer Lawson White at Clinton Studios in New York. In 2009, a new Gil Scott-Heron website, www.gilscottheron.net , was launched with a brand new track 'Where Did The Night Go' made available as a free download from the site.
In 2011, Scott-Heron released "We're New Here" a remix album which was a collaboration with Jamie xx, a member of the British indie band The xx. Scott-Heron died in New York City on May 27, 2011.
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The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
Gil Scott-Heron Lyrics
You will not be able to stay home, brother
You will not be able to plug in, turn on and cop out
You will not be able to lose yourself on skag
And skip out for beer during commercials, because
The revolution will not be televised
The revolution will not be televised
The revolution will not be brought to you
By Xerox in four parts without commercial interruptions
The revolution will not show you pictures of Nixon blowing a bugle
And leading a charge by John Mitchell, General Abrams, and Spiro Agnew
To eat hog maws confiscated from a Harlem sanctuary
The revolution will not be televised
The revolution will not be brought to you by the Schaefer Award Theatre
And will not star Natalie Woods and Steve McQueen or Bullwinkle and Julia
The revolution will not give your mouth sex appeal
The revolution will not get rid of the nubs
The revolution will not make you look five pounds thinner, because
The revolution will not be televised, brother
There will be no pictures of you and Willie Mae
Pushing that shopping cart down the block on the dead run
Or trying to slide that color TV into a stolen ambulance
NBC will not be able predict the winner
At 8:32 on report from twenty-nine districts
The revolution will not be televised
There will be no pictures of pigs shooting down brothers on the instant replay
There will be no pictures of pigs shooting down brothers on the instant replay
There will be no pictures of Whitney Young
Being run out of Harlem on a rail with a brand new process
There will be no slow motion or still lifes of Roy Wilkins
Strolling through Watts in a red, black, and green liberation jumpsuit
That he has been saving for just the proper occasion
Green Acres, Beverly Hillbillies, and Hooterville Junction
Will no longer be so damn relevant
And women will not care if Dick finally got down with Jane
On Search for Tomorrow
Because black people will be in the street looking for a brighter day
The revolution will not be televised
There will be no highlights on the eleven o'clock news
And no pictures of hairy armed women liberationists
And Jackie Onassis blowing her nose
The theme song will not be written by Jim Webb or Francis Scott Keys
Nor sung by Glen Campbell, Tom Jones, Johnny Cash
Engelbert Humperdinck, or The Rare Earth
The revolution will not be televised
The revolution will not be right back
After a message about a white tornado
White lightning, or white people
You will not have to worry about a dove in your bedroom
The tiger in your tank, or the giant in your toilet bowl
The revolution will not go better with Coke
The revolution will not fight germs that may cause bad breath
The revolution will put you in the driver's seat
The revolution will not be televised
Will not be televised
Will not be televised
Will not be televised
The revolution will be no re-run, brothers
The revolution will be live
Lyrics © CARLIN AMERICA INC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Gil Scott-Heron
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
To comment on specific lyrics, highlight them
siStar angel
Yes, i;wE STAY relevant and still on top of our i Am game.
;0)
'Cause that's what important.
I appreciate loving my Me. How absolute PeRRfect is this She.
All brown;copper skin, the bareance of lack sin.
Yup yup, i Win!0)
Please do forgive as i Keep walking beautifully projecting ME.
Concise choice is FREE FREE FREE
(laughing and smiling)
Honored that I vibe as ME energies.
Good day!
Love of The highest Me
i c;see thee!
:0)
Kevan Kwok
24/04/21, London, UK. 750,000 people marched through central London as part of the Freedom March.
They marched to celebrate freedom, choice & health sovereignty. They opposed the proposed vac. passports.
They came from all walks of life. All ages, religions, ethnicities, sexes & political ideologies.
As humans they marched.
A defiantly beautiful show of unity for the freedom of humanity.
It was ignored or misrepresented by media. Those that did report, claim there were 5-10k attendees.
It was one of the largest in London history.
An even bigger one is planned for the 29th of the 5th.
For the first time, I experienced the true meaning of this song.
Doomstarks
@Jonny Birchyboy so I was answering the question of why I thought George Floyd’s killing (or anything you see on tv for that matter) is not the point of the song.
Gil Scott-Heron is talking about how the Revolution is your mind. The change is you. It’s not on tv. The deaths you see in streets, the atrocities you see in your life those are the life defining moments that start the revolutions.
Equating that message to how the media shows you an event that stirs up emotion in order to put you in a submissive state to be controlled is pretty much the opposite of that point.
You won’t see the Revolution on tv. That’s a sign your being used. They are trying to sell you an idea. That idea is to separate us based on race. They used emotion as a platform for their political agenda. That’s not a Revolution. That’s being controlled by the system. If you’re not paying for the product you are the product.
What do they want? A society of conformed workers to pay taxes and be happy with doing what they are told. They’ll come calling when they want you to burn your cities and businesses down in 2 years just like they are using you now to profit in Ukraine while we struggle to make ends meet. It’s by design. You notice it’s all still white people running shit right? Biden is white you got the consolidation prize of a half black woman VP to appease you. I live in a black neighborhood trust me we aren’t the ones receiving anything from all those protest but higher bills. Meanwhile Biden just said to pay the cops more. He literally said we need to find the police. You notice it’s still us that’s fighting these wars right? Sending our kids to die.
But you think they care bc they brainwashed everyone using Floyd’s death to be on the same page and control a narrative. It’s all apart of a design to separate us to weaken. To tear us down from the inside. Have us fighting with one another. That’s not the Revolution. That’s being a part of the system which is not what this song is about. The Revolution begins when you see through their bullshit. When you pull the curtain back to see who is really there and what their motives are and stop being controlled by them.
LeaElla Cole's HUSBAND
This should be playing all over the country right now
LeaElla Cole's HUSBAND
@Dave Carlson if u are talking about the BLM protest,I agree it made us look bad to the people who ALREADY looked at us that way...BUT to the people who made an effort to understand what our PROBLEM is, because of it eyes where open for the first time (for some)....if u listen to this SONG...it is the very last line that sums up what he is actually saying...."THE REVOLUTION, WILL BE LIVE"
lisa Babe
@Panama Reloaded I fully agree. Which is why I said it should be playing all over our country right now. You can try to be mad at someone else. We are a family. We have the same Father. God is Good.
Panama Reloaded
@lisa Babe this song is not for no damn usa it's for the people that belong to GOD the so called American Black man woman an child this is our anthem.
Monique Hyman
Yesss spectacularly true comment
Steve
This song is extremely relevant right now.
Love In Action Now
Yes it is - and I heard it on the radio today!
Derek Staroba
Gil scott is very good
Chris Benson
Absolutely we’re all in this mess together
EJ Johnson
Long before rap & hip-hop, there was the spoken word. The merger of Rythym and Poetry (RAP) is the birthplace of rap as we know it.