The Revolution Will Not Be Televised - An Insight into Gil Scott-Heron's Iconic Song
Gil Scott-Heron's seminal song "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" is a powerful anthem that critiques American consumerism, challenges passivity, and highlights the need for active engagement in societal issues. With references to popular culture and a dense layer of figurative language, Scott-Heron effectively conveys a message that transcends time and resonates with listeners even today.
- Gil Scott-Heron
- The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
- Jazz poetry
- Political activism
- Figurative language
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The Revolution Will Not Be Televised by Gil Scott-Heron By Mathew Chandy
Gil Scott-Heron Jazz poet, musician, and writer was born in Chicago in 1948 and grew up in Lincoln, TN and the Bronx Attended Lincoln University and Johns Hopkins University Wrote two novels The Vulture and The N***** Factory Released more than fifteen albums Jazz poetry is a fusion of spoken word poetry, jazz, and soul music and is overtly political Could be considered a precursor to hip-hop, as Scott-Heron inspired and is sampled by many rap artists such as 2Pac, Jay-Z, Common, and Kanye Died in Manhattan in 2011 Was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2021
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised Gil Scott-Heron - Revolution Will Not Be Televised (Official Version) http://acerecords.co.uk/the-revolution-begins-the-flying-dutchman-masters
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised Scott-Heron came up with the lyrics in 1969 as a 19-year-old at Lincoln College, Philadelphia The revolution will not be televised was a saying before this in black activist groups It is about the contrast between the fantasy of advertisements on TV while protests and civil rights struggles were happening in real life in America It is about being active, not passive, in the revolution Makes many references to American consumerism: Coca-Cola, Listerine, Xerox, Dove, The Beverly Hillbillies, Natalie Wood, Steve McQueen He recorded the song for his first album Small Talk at 125th and Lenox with minimal drums in the background It was recorded again with a full band as the B-side to Home is Where the Hatred Is Didn t play much on the radio because of how political it was, but grew popularity in black neighborhoods by word of mouth
Thoughts? Did you like the song? Did you notice anything interesting about the lyrics in terms of references of figurative language? How effectively do you think Scott-Heron got his message across?
Impact of The Revolution Will Not Be Televised Nike Basketball The Revolution Will Not Be Televised 1995 Jason Kidd, Kevin Garnett, Jimmy Jackson, Joe Smith Eddie Jones. Film By Jake Scott, Music by KRS One. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised is now a near universal slogan for protests around the world, from Mumbai to Cairo to London The phrase has also sometimes been appropriated and twisted into something quite meaningless Ironically, Scott-Heron himself let Nike use his song in one of its advertisements for the new Air Jordans, which he greatly regretted
My analysis of the song: Music is very reminiscent of Motown sound, and the poetry is very free flowing: repetition of The Revolution Will Not Be Televised First verse tells audience to focus on the revolution and to not be distracted: You will not be able to plug in, turn on and cop out Makes many references to specific brands of products: The revolution will not be brought to you by Xerox in four parts without commercial interruptions You will not have to worry about a dove in your bedroom The revolution will not go better with Coke The revolution will not fight germs that may cause bad breath
My analysis of the song (Contd): Mentions many figures and shows in popular culture who may serve as a distraction away from the revolution "Green Acres", "Beverly Hillbillies", and "Hooterville Junction" will no longer be so damn 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. I interpreted the following part to mean that the revolution will not be lead by celebrities or commercial artists, and I thought the inclusion of Francis Scott Keys was meant to say that the revolution will not be lead by the traditional white establishment in America The theme song will not be written by Jim Webb or Francis Scott Keys, nor sung by Glen Campbell, Tom Jones, Johnny Cash, Engelbert Humperdinck, or The Rare Earth Scott-Heron finally urges listeners to again focus so as not to miss the revolution The revolution will be no re-run, brothers The revolution will be live
References Samuels, Wilfred. Gil Scott-Heron (1949 2011) . Black Past, 20 July 2021, www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/scott-heron-gil-1949. Baram, Marcus. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised --Gil Scott-Heron (1970). Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/documents/TheRevolutionWillNotBeTelevised.pdf. Accessed 1 Nov. 2021. Images and Videos: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/98/TRWNBT_album.jpg/220px-TRWNBT_album.jpg https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/phillytrib.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/4/a3/4a33a583-73ef-53ba-88f9-5df2e35712ee/5c9eca1e82390.image.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/dd/PiecesOfaMan_cover.jpg/220px-PiecesOfaMan_cover.jpg https://s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/images.deccanchronicle.com/dc-Cover-3v3svrp7kjealt2r5h68ane3f6-20191220170620.Medi.jpeg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwSRqaZGsPw&feature=emb_logo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0w-PHXPhnCc&feature=emb_logo
