The revolution will not be right back after a message from anybody... rest in peace Gil Scott-Heron

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

Jazz simmers in the background.Brian Jackson's funked up sax. Then a voice. Low. Growly. Sure. Tough. Fragile. Uncomprimising. Intelligent.

Angry yet hiding an onery smile, if that's possible in sound. These words:

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.

OK, now you know. This is not going to be what you thought it was when you put the needle on the record. It's not going to be like anything you've heard before. The sixties were full of these moments of surprise. Then these three killer lines:

The revolution will not be televised.
The revolution will not be brought to you by Xerox
In 4 parts without commercial interruptions.

Suddenly you see yourself and your world in stark relief. This man has us nailed, our world. It is uncomfortable and it is reassuring. What you've always thought about your world is confirmed. We are amusing ourselves to death. We have lost touch with reality. We are living vicariously through television. We want to change the world but our expectations are surprisingly low and our energy level extends little beyond the space between us and screen. And, historically, even MTV has yet to be invented. Then he drops in some topical stuff. Nixon, Mitchell, Abrams and Agnew. None of that makes a lot of sense these days. Skip ahead:

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.

Not the same products today -- substitute Enzyte or Lexus and you get the picture. You have to love this even it is is 45 or so years later:

NBC will not be able predict the winner at 8:32
or report from 29 districts.
The revolution will not be televised. ....

Then all of this, like a machine gun burst:

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
about 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.

RIP Gill Scott-Heron April 1, 1949 - May 27, 2011

--Lofflin

Image courtesy:http://lyrics.wikia.com/Gil_Scott-Heron Cover/ Reflections, 1981