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kwassa

(23,340 posts)
87. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.
Wed Apr 2, 2014, 01:22 PM
Apr 2014

Gill 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.

Recommendations

0 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):

The men of Kent have met today to put oppression down struggle4progress Mar 2014 #1
That was a new one for me Momgonepostal Mar 2014 #4
Protest song Downwinder Mar 2014 #2
Now that your big eyes have finally opened struggle4progress Mar 2014 #3
I think her Universal Soldier aint_no_life_nowhere Mar 2014 #33
her rendition of that one really is breath-taking struggle4progress Mar 2014 #44
"The Message" Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five Coventina Mar 2014 #5
... Well, the only chains that we can stand are the chains of hand in hand struggle4progress Mar 2014 #6
A classic: Brigid Mar 2014 #7
Well, how do you do, Private William McBride? struggle4progress Mar 2014 #8
Eric's song!! DFW Apr 2014 #73
And another: Brigid Mar 2014 #9
(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding Coventina Mar 2014 #10
That's my favorite. Arugula Latte Mar 2014 #64
La complainte du partisan struggle4progress Mar 2014 #11
"Give Peace a Chance" John & Yoko Coventina Mar 2014 #12
Enjoyed singing that during the Iraq war protests in DC. n/t DebJ Mar 2014 #36
And a very old one performed by the one only Bruce Springsteen: Brigid Mar 2014 #13
Dear Mister Editor if you choose please send me a copy of the labor news struggle4progress Mar 2014 #14
There once was a time when everything was cheap struggle4progress Mar 2014 #15
And no list of protest songs would be complete without this one: Brigid Mar 2014 #16
Hokoyo! struggle4progress Mar 2014 #17
.. No man can know them struggle4progress Mar 2014 #18
No more chant your old rhymes about bold Robin Hood his feats struggle4progress Mar 2014 #19
Don't be too polite girls! struggle4progress Mar 2014 #20
... wherever the eye watches struggle4progress Mar 2014 #21
my life goes on in endless song struggle4progress Mar 2014 #22
Industrial Workers of the World, Song Book, 1915 Downwinder Mar 2014 #23
Grrr...no Dylan yet? Only a Pawn in Their Game hibbing Mar 2014 #24
Something in the Air Skittles Mar 2014 #25
Here is one from REM. TexasTowelie Mar 2014 #26
Great choice! Coventina Mar 2014 #58
Alice's Restaurant. mzteris Mar 2014 #27
I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die Rag kwassa Mar 2014 #28
That was my favorite DFW Apr 2014 #74
A dear friend lives on the same block as Country Joe McDonald KamaAina Apr 2014 #89
Add this one Adsos Letter Mar 2014 #29
Chicago struggle4progress Mar 2014 #31
Man, were those some days, or what? Adsos Letter Mar 2014 #45
Whenever somebody tells me that "May you live in interesting times" is an old Chinese curse, struggle4progress Mar 2014 #49
Don't forget the Pete Seeger song that got the Smothers Brothers in hot water with CBS kath Mar 2014 #30
Took long enough for that one to get posted gratuitous Mar 2014 #34
Another classic: kath Mar 2014 #32
Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll struggle4progress Mar 2014 #38
Fugs -- Kill For Peace... GReedDiamond Mar 2014 #35
The Bargehaulers struggle4progress Mar 2014 #37
Here's three more from the 90s and 2000s. Systematic Chaos Mar 2014 #39
And one from the '80's (not strictly protest in the sense of the others posted) Adsos Letter Mar 2014 #46
Excellent choice! Systematic Chaos Mar 2014 #47
Mississippi Goddam struggle4progress Mar 2014 #40
One of the most achingly sad protest songs ever: Aristus Mar 2014 #41
Plane wreck at Los Gatos struggle4progress Mar 2014 #42
Perhaps the ultimate protest song aint_no_life_nowhere Mar 2014 #43
An anthem of the generalized protest of an era Adsos Letter Mar 2014 #48
Here's some more Doc_Technical Mar 2014 #50
Gorillaz - Dirty Harry "The war is over So said the speaker with the flight suit on" azurnoir Mar 2014 #51
Can a campaign song also be a protest song? Downwinder Mar 2014 #52
Creedence Clearwater Revival: Fortunate Son Lasher Mar 2014 #53
Fogerty also wrote an Iraq War protest song in 2004: Deja Vu (All Over Again) pinboy3niner Mar 2014 #55
Phil Ochs-I Ain't Marching Anymore hobbit709 Mar 2014 #54
hoping this one was in there rurallib Mar 2014 #66
Phil Ochs. End of story. WinkyDink Mar 2014 #56
I've always felt this was one of the best protest songs mulsh Mar 2014 #57
"Bonzo Goes to Bitburg" the Ramones Coventina Mar 2014 #59
"Fucked up Ronnie" by DOA FSogol Apr 2014 #77
"We Got the Power" by the Dropkick Murphys FSogol Apr 2014 #78
"Let Them Eat War" by Bad Religon FSogol Apr 2014 #79
"Kids Today" by the Dwarves FSogol Apr 2014 #80
"Times Up" by the Donots FSogol Apr 2014 #81
"Give it All" by Rise Against FSogol Apr 2014 #82
"That's Progess" by Jello Biafra FSogol Apr 2014 #83
"Revolution" by Authority Zero FSogol Apr 2014 #84
"Clampdown" by the Clash FSogol Apr 2014 #85
Try these... lame54 Mar 2014 #60
Where is the Love: Raine1967 Mar 2014 #61
Country Joe and the Fish AgingAmerican Mar 2014 #62
2+2 Bob Seger (Bob Seger System) Little_Wing Mar 2014 #63
This one is very recent (last summer) from a young band called The Orwells: Arugula Latte Mar 2014 #65
"When Johnny Comes Marching Home" wasn't always a exultation rurallib Mar 2014 #67
Songbook from Wisconsin's Solidarity Singers snacker Mar 2014 #68
Broken English hobbit709 Apr 2014 #69
Does Springsteen's "Born in the USA" count? Arkana Apr 2014 #70
Nearly every Napalm Death song is a protest song OriginalGeek Apr 2014 #71
The Fish Cheer/I feel like I'm Fixin To Die Rag (from 1969) chknltl Apr 2014 #72
Peter, Paul and Mary: "If I Had a Hammer," March on Washington 1963 Rhiannon12866 Apr 2014 #75
The English Civil War shenmue Apr 2014 #76
"Not my President, Not My War" by the Compassionate Conservatives KurtNYC Apr 2014 #86
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised. kwassa Apr 2014 #87
"Mothers, Daughters, Wives" raccoon Apr 2014 #88
Tom Dooley KamaAina Apr 2014 #90
Peter Paul & Mary avebury Apr 2014 #91
Universal Soldier - Donovan Mr.Bill Apr 2014 #92
Five-Man Electrical Band: lastlib Apr 2014 #93
WAR (What is it Good For)...Eve of Destruction....Sky Pilot turner52 Apr 2014 #94
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