Every Monday* we bring you our favourite snippets of music from round the Ireland and the World. It could be anything old or new – whatever happens to be floating our boat at the time. If you have anything you would like us to hear send it on to info@arthub.ie
This is not the first time I have written about Scott-Heron. I admit I am a fan.
Recently I was gifted a fantastic record of Gil Scott-Heron’s most popular spoken word pieces. I was once again stunned by the power of not just the poet’s words but the manner in which he delivered them.
Admittedly, these poems were of their time and addressed specific moments, people and events that are now only echoes of the past. It should be difficult for us to relate to what he wrote and sang about – but somehow we get the sentiment and we know – because history has a habit of repeating itself and the same issues will always keep popping up. Scott-Heron could address issues from the inside, an activist through word and song, he was able to strike to the core because he represented the very people these issues affected. Perhaps through a desire to empathise with such a passionate distaste for corruption and injustice we begin to relate – or at least search desperately for a way to relate – and pretty soon we replace these injustices of the past with those of the present…
…and we feel like we get it…
…but of course we don’t get it – we can’t.
But that was the power of his voice and the skill of his writing, like any great poet his writing transcends time and culture with ease. Laced with a contagious rhythm and wonderful sonority one cant help but read his words out loud – in fact they demand you read them out loud – and very soon you catch yourself applying the same cool cynicism (without the cool bit) that made his delivery so enjoyable and engaging.
These performances are therefore as enjoyable as the words in their own right. The reaction and response of the audience – presumably as passionate about the issues he addresses as he is – is fascinating to hear. Sometimes they laugh and cheer and other times they are so quiet you can hear their ears bending. It’s an infectious, collective experience – you want to be part of it.
“We Beg your Pardon” is the follow up to Scott-Heron’s hard hitting piece on the Watergate scandal, the very popular “H20 Gate Blues”. It addresses the political pardoning of those who were guilty of the corruption and the imbalanced way in which criminality is punished across the social divide.
The artist had his own demons to deal with over the years, a lot of which comes through in a lot of his other work. There can be a darkness in his words that reveals a troubled soul and the struggles he felt throughout his life in and out of addiction and prison.
His last release before his death, the critically acclaimed “I’m New Here” reflected this darker side, shining light on his upbringing and family structure. “Where Did the Night Go?” from that album is heavy with his experiences and a very personal encounter with his soul…
Perhaps his most well known work “The Revolution will not be Televised”, has been a call to action for generations of American producers and artists who wish to continue Scott-Heron’s message in their own work. As a result the record with its distinctive deep bass line and jazz flute has reached nearly every set of ears on the planet. But the words themselves are worth reading in isolation – they are timeless, infectious, pulsing with passion… simply brilliant.
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
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
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