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.
Work for Peace
Gil Scott-Heron Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Golf courses was where most of his time was spent.
So I never really listened to what the President said,
Because in general I believed that the General was politically dead.
But he always seemed to know when the muscles were about to be flexed,
Because I remember him saying something, mumbling something about a Military Industrial Complex.
Americans no longer fight to keep their shores safe,
Just to keep the jobs going in the arms making workplace.
But all they're doing is paying dues to the Military Industrial Complex.
The Military and the Monetary,
The Military and the Monetary,
The Military and the Monetary.
The Military and the Monetary,
get together whenever they think its necessary,
They turn our brothers and sisters into mercenaries, they are turning the planet into a cemetery.
The Military and the Monetary, use the media as intermediaries,
they are determined to keep the citizens secondary, they make so many decisions that are arbitrary.
We're marching behind a commander in chief,
who is standing under a spotlight shaking like a leaf.
but the ship of state had landed on an economic reef,
so we knew he was going to bring us messages of grief.
The Military and the Monetary,
were shielded by January and went storming into February,
Brought us pot bellied generals as luminaries,
two weeks ago I hadn't heard of the son of a bitch,
now all of a sudden he's legendary.
They took the honour from the honourary,
they took the dignity from the dignitaries,
they took the secrets from the secretary,
but they left the bitch in obituary.
The Military and the Monetary,
from thousands of miles away in a Saudi Arabian sanctuary,
had us all scrambling for our dictionaries,
cause we couldn't understand the fuckin vocabulary.
Yeah, there was some smart bombs,
but there was some dumb ones as well,
scared the hell out of CNN in that Baghdad hotel.
The Military and the Monetary,
they get together whenever they think its necessary,
War in the desert sometimes sure is scary,
but they beamed out the war to all their subsidiaries.
Tried to make So Damn Insane a worthy adversary,
keeping the citizens secondary,
scaring old folks into coronaries.
The Military and the Monetary,
from thousands of miles in a Saudi Arabian sanctuary,
kept us all wondering if all of this was really truely, necessary.
We've got to work for Peace,
Peace ain't coming this way.
If we only work for Peace,
If everyone believed in Peace the way they say they do,
we'd have Peace.
The only thing wrong with Peace,
is that you can't make no money from it.
The Military and the Monetary,
they get together whenever they think its necessary,
they've turned our brothers and sisters into mercenaries,
they are turning the planet, into a cemetery.
Got to work for Peace,
Peace ain't coming this way.
We should not allow ourselves to be mislead,
by talk of entering a time of Peace,
Peace is not the absence of war,
it is the absence of the rules of war and the threats of war and the preparation for war.
Peace is not the absence of war,
it is the time when we will all bring ourselves closer to each other,
closer to building a structure that is unique within ourselves
because we have finally come to Peace within ourselves.
The Military and the Monetary,
The Military and the Monetary,
The Military and the Monetary.
Get together whenever they think its necessary,
they've turned our brothers and sisters into mercenaries,
they are turning parts of the planet, into a cemetery.
The Military and the Monetary,
The Military and the Monetary,
We hounded the Ayatollah religiously,
Bombed Libya and killed Quadafi's son hideously.
We turned our back on our allies the Panamanians,
and saw Ollie North selling guns to the Iranians.
Watched Gorbachev slaughtering Lithuanians,
We better warn the Amish,
they may bomb the Pennsylvanians.
The Military and the Monetary,
get together whenever they think its necessary,
they have turned our brothers and sisters into mercenaries,
they are turning the planet, into a cemetery.
I don't want to sound like no late night commercial,
but its a matter of fact that there are thousands of children all over the world
in Asia and Africa and in South America who need our help.
When they start talking about 55 cents a day and 70 cents a day,
I know a lot of folks feel as though that,
thats not really any kind of contribution to make,
but we had to give up a dollar and a half just to get in the subway nowadays.
So this is a song about tommorrow and about how tommorrow can be better. if we all,
"Each one reach one, Each one try to teach one".
Nobody can do everything,
but everybody can do something,
everyone must play a part,
everyone got to go to work, Work for Peace.
Spirit Say Work, Work for Peace
If you believe the things you say, go to work.
If you believe in Peace, time to go to work.
Cant be wavin your head no more, go to work.
The lyrics of "Work for Peace" by Gil Scott-Heron contain strong anti-war sentiments and express the notion that the military and the monetary system are inextricably linked, and that they are driving the world towards destruction. The lyrics begin with the singer reminiscing about the days of President Eisenhower, when golf courses took up most of his time. However, the singer goes on to say that he never really listened to what the President said, as he believed the General was "politically dead". Nevertheless, the President seemed to know when the muscles would be flexed, as he warned us about the Military Industrial Complex.
The lyrics then continue to criticize how Americans no longer fight to keep their shores safe, but rather to keep the arms making workplaces running. The Military and the Monetary, two powerful entities, get together whenever they see fit, turning our brothers and sisters into mercenaries, with war turning the planet into a graveyard. The singer goes on to criticize the stance of the commander in chief, who speaks from a position of privilege, while the ship of state is marooned on an economic reef. The military and monetary continue their grip on power, wreaking havoc on the world.
In the end, the singer calls for people to work for peace, acknowledging that it is not an easy task, but that everyone needs to play their part it in. The song is a powerful call for change, and an indictment of power systems that threaten the planet.
Line by Line Meaning
Back when Eisenhower was the President,
The singer recalls the time when Eisenhower was the President of the United States.
Golf courses was where most of his time was spent.
Eisenhower spent most of his time on golf courses.
So I never really listened to what the President said,
The singer did not pay much attention to what the President said.
Because in general I believed that the General was politically dead.
The artist did not think the President was politically strong.
But he always seemed to know when the muscles were about to be flexed,
The President appeared to know when the military was going to be used.
Because I remember him saying something, mumbling something about a Military Industrial Complex.
The singer recalls the President mentioning the Military Industrial Complex.
Americans no longer fight to keep their shores safe,
Americans do not fight to protect their shores anymore.
Just to keep the jobs going in the arms making workplace.
They fight to keep jobs in the arms-making business.
Then they pretend to be gripped by some sort of political reflex,
Politicians pretend to have a political reaction.
But all they're doing is paying dues to the Military Industrial Complex.
However, all they are doing is supporting the Military Industrial Complex.
The Military and the Monetary,
The military and money are intertwined.
get together whenever they think its necessary,
They come together whenever they think it is necessary.
They turn our brothers and sisters into mercenaries, they are turning the planet into a cemetery.
The military and money turn people into mercenaries and turn the planet into a graveyard.
The Military and the Monetary, use the media as intermediaries,
The military and money use the media as intermediaries.
they are determined to keep the citizens secondary, they make so many decisions that are arbitrary.
They intend to keep the citizens in a secondary role and make arbitrary decisions.
We're marching behind a commander in chief,
People follow a commander in chief.
who is standing under a spotlight shaking like a leaf.
The commander in chief appears weak and vulnerable.
but the ship of state had landed on an economic reef,
The state's economy has hit a rough patch.
so we knew he was going to bring us messages of grief.
People expected to receive bad news.
were shielded by January and went storming into February,
People were protected by January and have now entered February.
Brought us pot bellied generals as luminaries,
People are being introduced to overweight generals who are being praised.
two weeks ago I hadn't heard of the son of a bitch,
Two weeks ago, the artist was unaware of someone they now despise.
now all of a sudden he's legendary.
That person has become legendary all of a sudden.
They took the honour from the honourary,
They have taken the honor away from those deserving it.
they took the dignity from the dignitaries,
They have taken the dignity away from those deserving it.
they took the secrets from the secretary,
They have taken the secrets from the secretary.
but they left the bitch in obituary.
They left the woman in an obituary.
from thousands of miles away in a Saudi Arabian sanctuary,
The action is happening in Saudi Arabia, thousands of miles away.
had us all scrambling for our dictionaries,
People are trying to understand the language used.
cause we couldn't understand the fuckin vocabulary.
The singer is unable to understand the vocabulary being used.
Yeah, there was some smart bombs,
There were some successful bombs.
but there was some dumb ones as well,
However, some bombs were unsuccessful.
scared the hell out of CNN in that Baghdad hotel.
CNN in a Baghdad hotel is terrified.
War in the desert sometimes sure is scary,
War in the desert is often scary.
but they beamed out the war to all their subsidiaries.
The war is being broadcasted to all the subsidiaries.
Tried to make So Damn Insane a worthy adversary,
They tried to make So Damn Insane look dangerous, but did not succeed.
scaring old folks into coronaries.
They are frightening old people and causing heart attacks.
kept us all wondering if all of this was really truely, necessary.
People are doubting whether all of this was necessary.
We've got to work for Peace,
It is imperative to work for peace.
Peace ain't coming this way.
Peace is not approaching.
If we only work for Peace,
If we focus on peace.
If everyone believed in Peace the way they say they do,
If people truly believe in peace.
we'd have Peace.
Peace would be attained.
The only thing wrong with Peace,
The only issue with peace.
is that you can't make no money from it.
It does not create any profit.
I don't want to sound like no late night commercial,
The artist does not want to sound like an advertisement.
but its a matter of fact that there are thousands of children all over the world
There are many children all over the world.
in Asia and Africa and in South America who need our help.
Children in Asia, Africa, and South America require assistance.
When they start talking about 55 cents a day and 70 cents a day,
When they mention small amounts of money.
I know a lot of folks feel as though that,
Many people perceive that.
thats not really any kind of contribution to make,
That it is not much of a contribution.
but we had to give up a dollar and a half just to get in the subway nowadays.
However, we have to pay a high price just to use public transport.
So this is a song about tommorrow and about how tommorrow can be better. if we all,
This song is about the future and how to improve it if everyone.
"Each one reach one, Each one try to teach one".
If everyone reaches out to and teaches one other person.
Nobody can do everything,
No one can do everything.
but everybody can do something,
Everyone can do something.
everyone must play a part,
Everyone must contribute.
everyone got to go to work, Work for Peace.
Everyone has to go to work for peace.
Spirit Say Work, Work for Peace
Working for peace is a spiritual need.
If you believe the things you say, go to work.
If you truly believe in what you say, start working toward peace.
If you believe in Peace, time to go to work.
If you believe in peace, it is time to work for it.
Cant be wavin your head no more, go to work.
It is time to take action and stop idly nodding.
Contributed by Grace W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.