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.
The Other Side Part II
Gil Scott-Heron Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Told him, kick it, quit it, can't go home
I know when they told me, kick it, quit it
Can't go home
Feeling so much worse now, kick it, quit it
Gotta go home yeah, my friends say "stop"
Told myself a 100 times I'm going stop
Yeah, my friends say "quit it"
Said I gotta quit it
Then I say "tomorrow" hey
I'm going to stop
Yes, in the morning I'm gonna go home
Need a little bit of love in the morning
Love in the morning
Somebody help me get over this thing
Got to go home
Feel like I could start all over at home
Make myself a brand new life at home
First I gotta face them down, say "kick it
Quit it" home
Yeah, I'm gonna say "kick it
Quit it" get back home
Yeah, I hear 'em say "kick it
Quit it" can't get home
Always on my mind say "kick it
Quit it" can't go home
The lyrics of Gil Scott-Heron's song "The Other Side Part II" depict the struggle of someone who desires to break free from a destructive pattern or addiction. The repetition of phrases like "kick it, quit it" and "can't go home" suggests the singer's inner conflict and their attempt to find a way out. They acknowledge the advice of their friends, who implore them to stop and quit, but the singer finds it difficult to follow through. The mention of tomorrow implies that they often postpone their decision to change and make excuses to themselves, always delaying their return home.
The lyrics further reveal the singer's yearning for love and support to help them overcome their situation. They express the need for a fresh start and a chance to rebuild their life at home, but they recognize that they must confront their problems and face them head-on in order to make progress. The repeated refrain of "kick it, quit it" serves as both a reminder of their goal and a declaration of their determination to eventually make it back home.
Line by Line Meaning
Kick it, quit it home
Leave this place, abandon it and return to my true home
Told him, kick it, quit it, can't go home
Advised someone to leave this place and not return to their original home
I know when they told me, kick it, quit it
I understand that they instructed me to leave and not come back
Can't go home
Unable to return to my true home
Feeling so much worse now, kick it, quit it
Experiencing intensified negative emotions as I consider leaving and not returning
Gotta go home yeah, my friends say "stop"
Must return to my true home, as my friends urge me to cease my current actions
Told myself a 100 times I'm going stop
Repeatedly convinced myself that I will put an end to my current behavior
Yeah, my friends say "quit it"
Indeed, my friends advise me to abandon this lifestyle
They don't know how many times I've
They are unaware of the countless instances in which I have
Said I gotta quit it
Expressed the need to discontinue my current actions
Then I say "tomorrow" hey
However, I consistently postpone my decision and say "tomorrow" instead
I'm going to stop
Promising myself once again that I will put an end to my current behavior
Yes, in the morning I'm gonna go home
Certainly, tomorrow morning I will return to my true home
Need a little bit of love in the morning
Require some affection and care when the day begins
Love in the morning
The presence of love and warmth during the early hours of the day
Somebody help me get over this thing
Seeking assistance from someone to overcome this difficult situation
Got to go home
Have an obligation to return to my true home
Feel like I could start all over at home
Believe that I can have a fresh start and begin anew in my true home
Make myself a brand new life at home
Create a completely new and improved life for myself in my true home
First I gotta face them down, say "kick it, quit it" home
Initially, I must confront the obstacles and challenges, boldly declaring that I will leave this place and not return to my true home
Yeah, I'm gonna say "kick it, quit it" get back home
Indeed, I will firmly state that I will leave this place and return to my true home
Yeah, I hear 'em say "kick it, quit it" can't get home
Certainly, I hear others urging me to abandon this place, but I feel unable to return to my true home
Always on my mind say "kick it, quit it" can't go home
Consistently preoccupied with the notion of leaving this place and not being able to return to my true home
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@davidaston5773
Phoenix, one recovering addict to your great self everything is true. Casual people love to think they know what others go through but they don't even face their own problems.
Ex addicts were weak but their struggle was also their baptism of fire.
No other misery like addiction either. Doesn't end even when you're clean. People still judge you.
You still have your ghosts of the past or demons at your heels. It's ALWAYS a threat waiting to seduce you again.
Gil's words aren't preachy but simply a poet telling his human truth.
Thank you for your comment. It made a rough but rewarding week even worth it. Good luck my friend x
@user-nr2fp2zs5v
Sometimes I feel like I’m just wasting time
Looking for another side
Sometime I feel like I’m losing my mind ‘cause there ain’t
No other side
Sometimes I’m just spinning my wheels, ain’t no big deal
Morning, there’s another side
Sometimes I feel like I’m just standing in place, ain’t no real race
Ain’t no other side
Life is like a circle and you end up where you started
If you end up where you started ain’t no other side
Yeah, but if life is like a curtain that I’m 90% certain that I’m looking through at something
Yes, I’m almost touching something on the other side
Yeah, the opposite of new is old
The opposite of young is old
Seems like everything has got another side
Yeah, but young ones want to be old ones
Old ones know what they would do if they was young ones
People ain’t never really satisfied
People ain’t never satisfied
If life is like a mirror then the nearer you get clearer
You can see it so much clearer
Feel like you know about the other side
My friends all swear that they know
What I should do with my life
How I should run my life
What should be happening with my life
They’re on the other side
They’re on the outside
I’m on the inside
Things always look so much better on the other side
Four O’clock in the morning
They don’t know
All the things I been needing
They don’t know
Breaking out in a sweat
And they don’t know
Feeling down
And they don’t know
They don’t know the other side
I need to go home
Momma could change it
Daddy could help me
Yes, I could go home
Yeah, Momma don’t need to see me this way
Know me this way
Touch me this way
Love me this way
Find me this way
I can’t go home
I’m saying
I don’t want to call him
I don’t want to know him
I don’t want to need him
I don’t want to feel it
I don’t want to know
But I know, know know
Hey, home
So I say tomorrow
Tomorrow [repeat]
I’m going home
Tomorrow ain’t coming
Tomorrow will always where it was
Tomorrow [repeat]
I need to go home
Maybe I could start all over at home
Without the whispers
Hanging on me
Pulling on me, rolling with me
Pulling on me
Yes, I’d like to go home
Without the whispers
@Afrobluee
Not sure where to begin except at the bottom line : I have always loved Gil Scott; both from a far as a fan of his and up close when I not just saw him in a very intimate venue but met him and talked with him at length like two brothers talkin’ like old friends catching up.
I had featured his music on my WYBC radio shows and in my writings. His metaphors and insights profound: “winter in America; “ the revolution will not be televised, it will be live; the bottle; and so many more.
Originally I was part of a few Blacks at Yale ( when we were so few we all knew one another) who came together and changed Yale and grew through the struggles and the joy ( as Frankie Beverly and MAZE called li - life and love “Joy and Pain…like Sunshine and Rain) and was back on the Yale campus what felt like a life time later and there at TOAD’s Place - South Africa’s LadySmith Black Mbazo ( who has traveled with Paul Simon who had introduced them to the world and simultaneously revived his career) and Gil Scott.
I was pleasantly shocked to see this - and yet gratified that this was a part of our unspoken legacy when we brought Nina Simone, BB King, Donny Hathaway (concerts I emceed ) including Sly and the Family Stone, and so many others.
Yet I also felt that the audience on this particular night did not fully realize and appreciate who LadySmith and Gil Scott were.
Another sad commentary that we often overlook the great ones among us - until they no longer are.
We move through life seeing through the rear view mirror missing what is around us in the present and before and in front of us - except when some events or remarkable people we admire or finally hear: look not at just where you have been - look where you are now and where you are going.
Keep your eyes on the (prize) road - which is the journey of your life even if the road is sometimes bumpy.
As two wise ones put it: “ we will not cease in our explorations, as we come to that place where we began and see it (know it) for the first time. TS Elliot- The Four Quartets. “ The Moving hand (finger) writes and having Writ moves on, and neither all your piety nor all your writ, shall lure it back to change a single line, or a word of it”. The Rubuyat of Omar Khyyam. And if a man (person has any greatness in him, it comes not to light in just one flamboyant hour, but is to be found in the daily ledger of his life.” Beryl Markam West with the Night.
I quote from memory these gems from my ‘road less traveled.
And in the wee wee hours of the this morni I am here typing with my thumbs this no doubt grammatically flawed stream of consciousness triggered by Gil Scott
As Nina Simone so eloquently put it: Nuff Said!
A seasoned traveler comes to know that every road has bumps ( which can become lessons or baggage) o
@swoon57
I read about the last years of his life..the addiction. I was driving a long way and played this in my car and cried. He was expressing his pain. He, musically, came into my life along time ago...I love this guy, x
@SteveNoSpinningEarth
yes, i do too
@ronaldailsworth4755
The spirit Gill live on.
@ben32707
The greatest Poet of our generation!imo
@dcwashingtonpresident5938
Yes! I get it
@margie7665
Love him too. He was right about everything!
@riparkjr
This man has carried me thru my teens, as a young man, as a father, as a grandfather, as a middle age man, and now approaching what society calls a senior(bullshit!). I love Gil! Have heard all his music, seen him live, but this trilogy, "The Other Side 1,2,3 is his greatest, cause he's bearing his soul and exposing his demons. All of us who love Gil, gets it 100.
@williamperson5848
riparkjr l always say to my son, that there is a saying " do as l say, not as l do". Gil couldn't conquer what was happening to him but that didn't diminish his message. In his pain he still gave us truth. What a tragedy the way he died but that's the way of marters. RIP GIL. I'm confident that he's in a better place than this fucked up world. As we're all inevitably destined to be.
@terry47family
Same here at 71, we miss Brother Gil....Age?
@ApocalypseLater8
This is my sobriety song.