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.
Intro To A Legend In His Own Mind
Gil Scott-Heron Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
From Canada to Mexico
They would love to see him coming and
Hate it when he had to go
A macho man before macho ever came to town
The only problem was not enough
Of him to go around
Had more romances than LA's got stars
He had
Had more romances than Detroit's got cars
He's a, a legend in his own mind and
God's gift to women
On a day God wasn't giving up a thing
Well you hate to see him coming
When you're grooving at your favorite bar
He's the death of the party
And a self-proclaimed superstar
Got a permanent Jones to assure
You he's been everywhere
A show-stopping name-dropping answer to
The ladies' prayers
To hear him tell it he had
More romances than doctors got bills he had
Had more romances than Beverly got Hills
And he's a, a legend in his own mind and
And God's gift to women
On a day God wasn't giving up a thing
You don't have to listen
When he's rattling on, yeah
You don't have to listen
He's telling everybody else
You don't have to believe him
I don't think I'll ever believe him
Matter of fact he may
Well not believe himself (Say hey)
Well he loved plenty women
From Canada to Mexico
And they loved to see him coming and
Hated when he had to go
A macho man before macho ever came to town
The only problem was not enough
Of him to go around
You know he had
Had more romances than airplanes got gauges
He had
Had more romances than phone book got pages
He's a, a legend in his own mind and
God's gift to women
On a day God wasn't giving up a thing
He's a, a legend in his own mind and
God's gift to women
On a day God wasn't giving up
Wasn't giving up, wasn't giving up
He's a, a legend in his own mind and
God's gift to women
On a day God wasn't giving up a thing
The lyrics of "Legend of His Own Mind" by Gil Scott-Heron depict a self-proclaimed ladies' man who sees himself as a legend in his own mind and God's gift to women. The song portrays this character as someone who is constantly seeking attention and validation from his numerous romantic escapades. He is depicted as a macho man who travels extensively and boasts about his conquests. However, despite his claims of having more romances than there are stars in LA or cars in Detroit, there is a sense of emptiness and loneliness implied in the line, "The only problem was not enough of him to go around."
This song satirically critiques the narcissistic behavior of this character. He is described as the "death of the party" and a show-off who constantly name-drops and desires to be the center of attention. The lyrics suggest that his stories may be exaggerated, indicating a lack of self-awareness and a desire for validation. The repeated phrase, "On a day God wasn't giving up a thing," highlights the irony of his self-proclaimed greatness in contrast to the reality that he falls short of his own inflated ego.
Overall, "Legend of His Own Mind" by Gil Scott-Heron uses witty lyrics and a satirical tone to comment on the self-aggrandizing and attention-seeking behavior of an individual who sees himself as a legend and gift to women, while also exploring themes of solitude and the absence of fulfillment.
Line by Line Meaning
Well he loved plenty women
He had a lot of romantic relationships with women
From Canada to Mexico
His romantic interests spanned across different countries
They would love to see him coming and
Women were excited when he would arrive
Hate it when he had to go
They felt sad when he had to leave
A macho man before macho ever came to town
He displayed masculinity before it became popular
The only problem was not enough
The only issue was that there was a scarcity
Of him to go around
There weren't enough of him to satisfy everyone
You know he had
He possessed
Had more romances than LA's got stars
He had more love affairs than the number of stars in Los Angeles
Had
Experienced
Had more romances than Detroit's got cars
He had a greater number of romantic relationships than the number of cars in Detroit
He's a, a legend in his own mind and
He considers himself a legendary figure
God's gift to women
He believes he is a special blessing for women
On a day God wasn't giving up a thing
Even on a day when nothing was going well, he considered himself exceptional
Well you hate to see him coming
People dislike his presence
When you're grooving at your favorite bar
Especially when you're enjoying yourself at a bar
He's the death of the party
He ruins the party atmosphere
And a self-proclaimed superstar
He declares himself as a superstar without others recognizing it
Got a permanent Jones to assure
He constantly seeks attention to convince
You he's been everywhere
You that he has been to many places
A show-stopping name-dropping answer to
He impresses with the names he drops
The ladies' prayers
He fulfills the desires and hopes of women
To hear him tell it he had
According to his own account, he had
More romances than doctors got bills he had
He had more romantic relationships than the number of bills doctors have
Had more romances than Beverly got Hills
He had a greater number of love affairs than the hills in Beverly
And he's a, a legend in his own mind and
He perceives himself as a legendary figure
And God's gift to women
He believes he is a special blessing for women
On a day God wasn't giving up a thing
Even on a day when nothing was going well, he considered himself exceptional
You don't have to listen
It is not necessary to pay attention
When he's rattling on, yeah
While he continues to talk incessantly
He's telling everybody else
He is informing everyone else
You don't have to believe him
It is not necessary to trust his words
I don't think I'll ever believe him
Personally, I doubt I will ever believe him
Matter of fact he may
In fact, he might
Well not believe himself (Say hey)
Not even believe in himself
He had
He possessed
Had more romances than airplanes got gauges
He had a greater number of romantic relationships than the number of gauges in airplanes
He had
He experienced
Had more romances than phone book got pages
He had more love affairs than the number of pages in a phone book
He's a, a legend in his own mind and
He perceives himself as a legendary figure
God's gift to women
He believes he is a special blessing for women
On a day God wasn't giving up a thing
Even on a day when nothing was going well, he considered himself exceptional
He's a, a legend in his own mind and
He perceives himself as a legendary figure
God's gift to women
He believes he is a special blessing for women
On a day God wasn't giving up
Even on a day when nothing was going well
Wasn't giving up, wasn't giving up
Wasn't providing, wasn't granting
He's a, a legend in his own mind and
He perceives himself as a legendary figure
God's gift to women
He believes he is a special blessing for women
On a day God wasn't giving up a thing
Even on a day when nothing was going well, he considered himself exceptional
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