Gil Scott-Heron, The Revolution Will Not Be Televised | Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶

In the 188^th edition of Throwback Vibez (2024), we recollect and reflect on “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” by Gil Scott-Heron.

The vibes, the vibes, those Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶! Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 is a column that celebrates awesome songs from the past.  The records that grace this column are older, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re ancient – no fossils 🦴! All genres of music are welcome. In the 188^th edition of Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 (2024), we recollect and reflect on “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” performed by 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,” Gil Scott-Heron (1949 – 2011) recites, continuing, “You will not be able to lose yourself on skag and skip out for beer during commercials, because / The revolution will not be televised.” “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” is a key highlight from the Scott-Heron musical catalog.  The opener from his 1971 album, Pieces of a Man, is a revolutionary protest song – a call to action.  If you want change, you’ve got to fight for change – you can’t merely be a spectator and expect it to materialize.  Scott-Heron penned the record while Bob Thiele produced.  Notably, Gil is accompanied by a sickening group of musicians, including Ron Carter (bass) and  Hubert Laws (flute and saxophone).

Throughout “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,” Scott-Heron doesn’t hold back – he’s poetically honest.  “The revolution will not be brought to you by Xerox in four parts without commercial interruptions.” Noted.  Also, “The revolution will not give your mouth sex appeal,” or “make you look five pounds thinner.” Beyond teeth and weight, Gil speaks on NBC presidential election projections, popular 1960s television shows, “Women Liberationists”, and popular white male musicians: “The theme song will not be written by Jim Webb or Francis Scott Key / Nor sung by Glen Campbell, Tom Jones, Johnny Cash, Englebert Humperdinck, or Rare Earth.” Getting more socially driven, particularly regarding blacks, Scott-Heron states, “There will be no pictures of pigs shooting down brothers on instant replay.”  He also references several civil rights leaders, some of which he differs in opinions on civil rights and fighting racism (Whitney Young and Roy Wilkins).  Ultimately, in this spoken word classic, Gil Scott-Heron promotes active engagement, not sitting or being passive.  After all, “The revolution will be no re-run, brothers/ The revolution will be live.” “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” is no anachronism, as many of Gil’s points are more relevant than ever.

Gil Scott-Heron // Pieces of a Man // Ace // 1971

Gil Scott-Heron, The Revolution Will Not Be Televised: Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 No. 188 (2024) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; Ace; OpenClipart-Vectors, Clker-Free-Vector-Images, Speedy McVroom from Pixabay]