Sep 12, 2004 08:57
THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED
by Gil Scott Heron
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,
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 4 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 May
pushing that shopping cart down the block on the
dead run,
or trying to slide that color television into a stolen
ambulance.
NBC will not be able predict the winner at 8:32
or report from 29 districts.
The revolution will not be televised.
There will be no pictures of pigs shooting down
brothers in the instant replay.
There will be no pictures of pigs shooting down
brothers in 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 life of Roy
Wilkens strolling through Watts in a Red, Black and
Green liberation jumpsuit that he had been saving
For just the proper occasion.
Green Acres, The Beverly Hillbillies, and
Hooterville
Junction will no longer be so damned relevant, and
women will not care if Dick finally gets 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,
Francis Scott Key, nor sung by Glen Campbell,
Tom
Jones, Johnny Cash, Englebert Humperdink, or
the Rare Earth.
The revolution will not be televised.
The revolution will not be right back after a
message
bbout a white tornado, white lightning, or white
people.
You will not have to worry about a dove in your
bedroom, a tiger in your tank, or the giant in your
toilet bowl.
The revolution will not go better with Coke.
The revolution will not fight the 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.