[Gil Scott Heron *Fades Out*]
We'd like to do a poem for you called:
"The Revolution Will Not Be Televised"
Primarily because it won't be...
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 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 & Mendel Rivers...
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 Wood and Steve McQueen or Bullwinkle and Julia...
[Ted Roe]
Mama told me there'd be days like this
Now I'm broke and pissed off because it stays like this
While D-boys push packs to stack major chips
Makes me wanna get a sack, and break it down to bits
(Right?! Yeah!) but that I ain't what I do man
I'm the dumb nigga that chose to go to school, man
This shit is not College Hill material
Bought books and got milk in the fridge, but no cereal
Bitches cost a grip, I know an Alpha that'll swipe em
Couple bops that do it, and for payment I could pipe em
But I'm gripin. These Pigs is pushing chargers looking nice...
Devil's pies still in the streets, I'm droolin' for a slice
No loans, smooth cruise, 22's with the dice
Present into hindsight, looking at a new life (Right?!)
But I also know that as a man, some mud can turn to blood
When you want it off your hands
Woke up from my street dream, came up with a master plan
There's a cost to be the boss and step one is selling Grams...
Step one is selling Grams
There's a cost to be the boss, and step one is selling Grams
[Gil Scott-Heron *Fades Back In, Out*]
...with a clear conscience and a college degree
The irony of it all, of course, is when a pale face
SDS motherfucker dares look hurt when I tell him
To go find his own revolution
He wonders why I tell him that America's revolution
Will not be the melting pot but the toilet bowl
Back goes pale face to basics
Does Little Orphan Annie have a natural?
Do Sluggos kinks make him a refugee from Mandingo?
What does Webster say about soul?
I say: you silly, trite motherfucker
Your great grandfather tied a ball and chain to my balls
And bounced me through a cotton field
While I lived in an unflushable toilet bowl
And now you want me to help you overthrow what?
The only Truth that can be delivered to a four year revolutionary
With a whole card i.e. skin is this:
[Ted Roe]
Hard liquor hit my liver, pull the trigger with ease
Ron Paul would call me "Nigga"; I'm not hanging from trees
I'm just hanging on some trees, with my G's, I'm the realer
Chairman of the Frogs: Revolution's Log Dealer
Signed, Sealed, Delivered, Theodore is the notary
This is to the Black Hole we shit on, openly
Most def, we hoped and prayed the quality improves
Keep us wishing for the carrot like an Ass that couldn't chew
"But Obama..." WHAT'S NEW?! Onto the next objective
“But what about The Church?” They think my mouth is too reckless
Yet I love my niggas, so I transmit The Message
They respond and we here like Mills Lane: "Let's Get It On!!"
Swamp Up at The Pond, like a river, flow's ridiculous
Stay spittin' pus like syphilus so bitch niggas can't get wit us
Dig in em like chicken guts, survivors turn to kicking dust
If you take our lickings and keep ticking: it's considered luck
Fours on the truck, DUB's on the Benz
Make a list of broke niggas and reanalyze your friends
Or pull the ends together, make a circle and defend
Like a clan, and FUCK where you're from, where do you stand?
Gangster state of mind, middle finger to the man
There's a cost the be the boss and step one is selling Grams...
Step one is selling Grams. There's a cost to be the boss
And step one is selling Grams
[Gil Scott-Heron *Fades In*]
...Beverly Hillbillies and Hooterville Junction
Will no longer be so goddamned relevant, and
Women will not care if Dick finally screwed 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 Humperdinck
The revolution will not be televised
The revolution will not be right back after a message about
A white tornado, white lightning, or white people
You will not have to worry about a dove in your bedroom
The 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, not be televised
The revolution will be no re-run brothers;The revolution will be live