This Week's "Oldie But Goodie": "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" by Gil Scott-Heron
The revolution will be live.
“The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” by Gil Scott-Heron was originally recorded live in 1970 in New York City. It appeared on his first album, Small Talk at 125th and Lenox. The song is a spoken-word poem accompanied only by congas and bongo drums.
A re-recorded version, with a full band, was released as the B-side to Scott-Heron's first single, "Home Is Where the Hatred Is", from his album Pieces of a Man (1971), featuring jazz bassist Ron Carter. This is probably the most popular version of the song.
The song's lyrics contain a number of pop culture references of the era, including several television series, advertising slogans, entertainment figures and news events.
Green Acres, Beverly Hillbillies, and Hooterville Junction
Will no longer be so damned relevant
And women will not care if Dick finally got 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
The song is said to have inspired the earliest rappers. Scott-Heron is sometimes referred to as the forefather or godfather of rap.
“The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” was inducted to the National Recording Registry in 2005. According to the accompanying essay:
Until his death in 2011, Scott-Heron was alternately proud of the song’s power and resonance but also frustrated by the way its meaning had been consistently misunderstood by many listeners who took the song’s title literally, that the revolution won’t be aired live on television. But what Gil meant in the song, and it’s obvious from hearing the lyrics, is that you have to be active, you can’t be a passive participant in the revolution. When the revolution happens, you’re going to have to be in the streets. If you want to make change in society, you have to get off your ass and take action. You just can’t sit on your couch and watch it on TV.
In a 1989 interview, in his own words, Gil Scott-Heron says the following about the meaning of “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised”:
That was about the fact that the first change that takes place is in your mind. You have to change your mind before you change the way you live and the way you move. So, when we say that the revolution will not be televised, we were saying that like, that the thing that is going to change people is something that no one will ever be able to capture on film. It'll just be something that you see, and all of a sudden you realize, I'm on the wrong page, or I'm on the right page, but on the wrong note and I've got to get in sync with everyone else to understand what's happening in this country.
See more in the video below.
The next video is the original 1970 live recording, including introduction of the band.
The video below is the 1971 re-recorded version of the song with a full band.