30 September 2021

30 September 2021 - Gil Scott-Heron - The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

This might be the first spoken word piece I've ever posted here.   

What a lot of people don't know is that this poem, written and performed by Gil Scott-Heron, was a response to someone else's poem.  Poetry group The Last Poets had released a piece called "When The Revolution Comes", in which they implied, and by implied, I mean, said right out, that most people will watch the revolution on TV.

What Gil Scott-Heron didn't realize is that he had written a rallying cry, using a phrase from the 1960's Black Power movement.  He wrote a poem that resonated far greater than Black Power, or any one movement.  He wrote and performed a piece that is used to this day to motivate crowds and drive protests, despite its dated 1970 references.  

Listen to the line repeated twice at about 1:30 and tell me this song doesn't still resonate today.

No comments:

Post a Comment