Another one of my favorite songwriters is Gil Scott-Heron. One of his songs that is on everybody’s lips is The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.
While it is definitely an iconic protest song, some of the references are a bit dated and might require explanation to younger listeners.
Other songs of his are timeless and could have been written yesterday, unfortunately.
You explained it to me I must admit
But just for the record you were talkin' shit
Y'all rap about no knock bein' legislated
For the people you've always hated
In this hell hole you, we, call home
No knock, the man will say
To keep that man from beating his wife
No knock, the man will say
To protect people from themselves
No knockin', head-rockin', inter-shockin'
Shootin', cussin', killin', cryin', lyin'
And bein' white
No knock
No knocked on my brother Fred Hampton
Bullet holes all over the place
No knocked on my brother Michael Harris
And jammed a shotgun against his skull
For my protection?
Who's gonna protect me from you?
The likes of you?
The nerve of you?
Your tomato face deadpan
Your dead hands ending another freedom fan
No knockin', head rockin', inter-shockin'
Shootin', cussin', killin', cryin', lyin'
And bein' white
But if you're wise, no knocker
You'll tell your no-knockin' lackeys
Ha!
No knock on my brother's head
No knock on my sister's head
No knock on my brother's head
No knock on my sister's head
And double lock your door
Because soon someone may be no-knockin'
Ha, ha!
For you
Sound familiar?
He also had a terrific ability to combine powerful words with a driving beat.
A junkie walking through the twilight
I'm on my way home
I left three days ago, but no one seems to know I'm gone
Home is where the hatred is
Home is filled with pain and it,
might not be such a bad idea if I never, never went home again
Stand as far away from me as you can and ask me why
hang on to your rosary beads
close your eyes to watch me die
you keep saying, kick it, quit it, kick it, quit it
God, but did you ever try
to turn your sick soul inside out
so that the world, so that the world
can watch you die
Home is where I live inside my white powder dreams
home was once an empty vacuum that's filled now with my silent screams
home is where the needle marks
try to heal my broken heart
and it might not be such a bad idea if I never, if I never went home again
home again
home again
home again
kick it, quit it
kick it, quit it
kick it, quit it
kick it, can't go home again
He had a life-long struggle with drug abuse.
Some things haven’t changed:
During reconstruction time they were folks who have been promised 40 acres and a mule.
And they were told a man with their legal papers could be expected on a train from Washington.
They were folks who waited for him and there are folks still waiting for him.
But you can't depend on the train from Washington, it's 100 years overdue…
You can depend on the stars and planets yeah
They'll always tell you the truth
You can depend on the 15th of April Yeah
Somehow it always gets through
You can depend on the daily paper's calls
They surely bring you the blues
But don't depend on the train from Washington
It's one hundred years overdue
I see people, dragging on their own
I see them standing
Anxious near the tracks
I see people, a long long way from home
Wondering how they'll ever get back
You can depend on the politicians yeah
Always got a point of view
They are contemporary court magicians yeah
Sleight of mouth will dazzle you
You can depend on the repositions from them
Changes that you've got to go through
But don't depend on the train from Washington
It's one hundred years overdue
I see people, on their way to work
I see factories bursting at the seams
I see people listening for the whistle
On the train that will carry their dreams
I see people, on their way to work
I see factories bursting at the seams
I see people listening for the whistle
On the train that will carry their dreams
You can depend on the folks and gravity
Cuz both of them will bring you down
You can depend on catching something Yeah
Cause something is going around
You can depend on the first two numbers, but
Damn if the last one come through
But don't depend on the train from Washington
It's one hundred years overdue
You can't depend on the train from Washington
It's one hundred years overdue
Oh lord you see
You can't depend on the train from Washington
It's one hundred years overdue
Don't you over
But don't depend on the train from Washington
Eh eh eh .. eh you know it might not make it
You can't depend on the train from Washington
Everybody knows it's it's it's running late
You can't depend on the train from Washington
It's one hundred years overdue
It's long long time
You can't depend on the train from Washington
It's one hundred years overdue …
He could also write about the heartbreak of cleaning up what was left.
Jagged jigsaw pieces
Tossed about the room
I saw my grandma sweeping
With her old straw broom
She didn't know what she was doing
She could hardly understand
That she was really sweeping up..
Pieces of a man
I saw my daddy greet the mailman
And I heard the mailman say
"Now don't you take this letter to heart now Jimmy
Cause they've laid off nine others today"
He didn't know what he was saying
He could hardly understand
That he was only talking to
Pieces of a man
I saw the thunder and heard the lightning!
And felt the burden of his shame
And for some unknown reason
He never turned my way
Pieces of that letter
Were tossed about that room
And now I hear the sound of sirens
Come knifing through the gloom
They don't know what they are doing
They could hardly understand
That they're only arresting
Pieces of a man
I saw him go to pieces
I saw him go to pieces
He was always such a good man
He was always such a strong man
Yeah, I saw him go to pieces
I saw him go to pieces
He died in 2011. I think he would not be surprised at what has happened since.
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