"The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" is a poem and song by Gil Scott-Heron. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised is a phrase taken from the title of a poem and song. ... Poetry (ancient Greek: poieo = create) is an art form in which human language is used for its aesthetic qualities in addition to, or instead of, its notional and semantic content. ... For other uses, see Song (disambiguation). ... Photo of Gil Scott-Heron. ...

History

Original versions

It first appeared on the 1970 album Small Talk at 125th and Lenox, on which Scott-Heron recited the piece, accompanied only by congas and bongo drums. Year 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... An album or record album is a collection of related audio or music tracks distributed to the public. ... Small Talk at 125th & Lennox was the debut album by the then 21-year old Gil Scott-Heron. ... For other uses, see Conga (disambiguation). ... For other articles titled Bongo refer to the disambiguation page. ...

A re-recorded version, this time with a full band, appeared on the 1971 album Pieces Of A Man, and on the double A-sided single "Home Is Where The Hatred Is"/"The Revolution Will Not Be Televised." Year 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1971 Gregorian calendar. ... A collection of various CD singles In music, a single is a short recording of one or more separate tracks. ...

All these releases were issued on the Flying Dutchman Productions label. The piece's name was also used as the title to Scott-Heron's "Best of" album, issued in 1998 by RCA. In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. ... RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony BMG Music Entertainment. ...

References

The poem is notable for its extensive political and cultural references, many of which may be unknown today. The list below links to some of the references Scott-Heron makes.

• "Plug in, turn on, and cop out," a reference to Timothy Leary's pro-LSD phrase "Turn on, tune in, drop out."
• Skag, slang term for heroin
• Xerox, a genericized trademark that colloquially means "to photocopy"
• Richard Nixon, 37th president of the United States
• John N. Mitchell, U.S. Attorney General under Nixon
• General Creighton Abrams, commander of military operations during the Vietnam War
• Spiro Agnew, 39th vice president of the United States under Nixon
• "Hog maws," sometimes misheard as "hog moss," soul food made from hog jowls
• Schaefer Award Theater, radio show by Dick Clark
• Natalie Wood, film actress (incorrectly referred to as "Natalie Woods")
• Steve McQueen, film actor
• Bullwinkle, cartoon character
• Julia, a TV half-hour sitcom series starring Diahann Carroll
• "Give your mouth sex appeal", from Ultra Brite toothpaste advertising
• Instant replay, a sports television term
• Whitney Young, civil rights leader
• Roy Wilkins, executive director of the NAACP
• Watts, a neighborhood in Los Angeles, referring to the Watts Riots of 1965
• “Red, black, and green”, the colors of the Pan-African flag
• Green Acres, a U.S. television sitcom
• The Beverly Hillbillies, a U.S. television sitcom
• Hooterville “Junction” [sic], the fictional setting of Green Acres and Petticoat Junction
• Search for Tomorrow, a U.S. television soap opera
• Dick and Jane, generic characters featured in American basal readers
• “Eleven o’clock news”, a reference to a generic television news program
• “Women liberationists”, a reference to the feminist movement
• Jackie Onassis, seen during the period in television broadcasts covering Kennedy memorials
• Jim Webb, U.S. composer
• Francis Scott Key, author of the words to “The Star-Spangled Banner”
• Glen Campbell, U.S. pop music singer
• Tom Jones, Welsh pop music singer
• Johnny Cash, U.S. country music singer
• Engelbert Humperdinck, British pop music singer
• Rare Earth, all-white U.S. pop music band signed to Motown Records
• “White tornado”, advertising slogan for Ajax cleanser, “Ajax cleans like a white tornado”
• “White lightning”, a slang term for moonshine, also an American psychedelic rock band
• “Dove in your bedroom”? (advertising slogan)
• “Tiger in your tank”, an Esso advertising slogan created by Chicago copywriter Emery Smith [1]
• “Giant in your toilet bowl,” reference to the Liquid Plumr commercials saying that it cleared so well it was like "having a giant in your toilet bowl" (to work the plunger) with an animation of a large disembodied arm using a plunger on your toilet.
• “Go better with Coke”, a Coca-Cola advertising slogan, “Things go better with Coke”
• “Fight the germs that may cause bad breath”, from Listerine advertising
• “Put you in the driver’s seat” (advertising slogan from a car rental company, Hertz)
• Rerun

Look up Cop out in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... For the American baseball player, see Tim Leary (baseball player). ... Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out (Original Movie Soundtrack) Turn on, tune in, drop out is a counterculture phrase coined by Timothy Leary in the 1960s. ... For other uses, see Heroin (disambiguation). ... Xerox Corporation (NYSE: XRX) (name pronounced ) is a global document management company, which manufactures and sells a range of color and black-and-white printers, multifunction systems, photo copiers, digital production printing presses, and related consulting services and supplies. ... Nixon redirects here. ... John Newton Mitchell (September 15, 1913 – November 9, 1988) was the first United States Attorney General ever to be convicted of illegal activities and imprisoned. ... Creighton Williams Abrams Jr. ... Spiro Theodore Agnew (November 9, 1918 – September 17, 1996) was the thirty-ninth Vice President of the United States serving under President Richard M. Nixon, and the fifty-fifth Governor of Maryland. ... A mondegreen is the mishearing (usually accidental) of a phrase as a homophone or near-homophone in such a way that it acquires a new meaning. ... For other uses, see Soul food (disambiguation). ... Dick Clark redirects here. ... Natalie Wood (July 20, 1938 – November 29, 1981) was a three time Academy Award nominated American film actress. ... Steve McQueen (March 24, 1930 – November 7, 1980) was an Academy Award-nominated American movie actor, nicknamed The King of Cool.[1] He was one of the biggest box-office draws of the 1960s and 1970s due to a popular anti-hero persona. ... Bullwinkle J. Moose Bullwinkle J. Moose is a fictional character in the 1959–1964 animated television series Rocky and His Friends and The Bullwinkle Show (often collectively referred to as Rocky and Bullwinkle), produced by Jay Ward and Bill Scott. ... Diahann Carroll as Julia, Fred Williamson as Steve in Julia Julia was a groundbreaking television series which was the first to show an African American main character in a non-stereotypical role. ... Diahann Carroll, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1955 Diahann Carroll (born July 17, 1935) is an American actress and singer. ... Ultra Brite is a American Toothpaste and tooth-whitener marketed by Colgate-Palmolive in the United States. ... For other uses of the term Instant replay, see Instant replay (disambiguation). ... Whitney Young at the White House, 1964. ... Roy Wilkins, 1968. ... The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), is one of the oldest and most influential hate organizations in the United States. ... Watts is a residential district in southern Los Angeles, California. ... The term Watts Riots refers to a large-scale riot which lasted six days in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, in August 1965. ... The Red, Black and Green flag designed by the UNIA in 1920. ... This article is about the television series. ... A sitcom or situation comedy is a genre of comedy performance originally devised for radio but today typically found on television. ... For the 1993 film, see The Beverly Hillbillies (film) The Beverly Hillbillies was an American television program about a hillbilly family transplanted in Southern California. ... Hooterville was a fictional rural town that was the setting of the American television sitcoms Petticoat Junction and Green Acres. ... Petticoat Junction was an American situation comedy that was produced by Filmways, Inc. ... Search for Tomorrow was a soap opera which started airing on Monday, September 3, 1951 on CBS. The show was moved from CBS, its original broadcaster, on Friday, March 26, 1982, with NBC picking it up on the following Monday, March 29, 1982. ... The first TIME cover devoted to soap operas: Dated January 12, 1976, Bill Hayes and Susan Seaforth Hayes of Days of our Lives are featured with the headline Soap Operas: Sex and suffering in the afternoon. A soap opera is an ongoing, episodic work of fiction, usually broadcast on television... Dick and Jane were the main characters in popular basal readers written by Zerna Sharp that were used to teach children to read during the 1930s through the 1960s. ... Basal readers are textbooks used to teach reading and associated skills to schoolchildren. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The feminist movement (also known as the Womens Movement or Womens Liberation) is a series of campaigns on issues such as reproductive rights (including abortion), domestic violence, maternity leave, equal pay, sexual harassment, and sexual violence. ... “Jacqueline Bouvier” redirects here. ... John Kennedy and JFK redirect here. ... Jimmy Webb (born August 15, 1946 in Elk City, Oklahoma) is an idiosyncratic American popular music composer. ... Francis Scott Key Maryland Historical Society plaque marking the birthplace of Francis Scott Key Fort McHenry looking towards the position of the British ships (with the Francis Scott Key Bridge in the distance on the upper left) Francis Scott Key (August 1, 1779 – January 11, 1843) was an American lawyer... The Star-Spangled Banner is the national anthem of the United States. ... For the town in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, see Glen Campbell, Pennsylvania. ... For other uses, see Pop music (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Tom Jones (disambiguation). ... For the song of the same name, recorded by Tracy Byrd and later by Jason Aldean, see Johnny Cash (song). ... country music, see Country music (disambiguation) Country music, the first half of Billboards country and western music category, is a blend of popular musical forms originally found in the Southern United States and the Appalachian Mountains. ... The tone or style of this article or section may not be appropriate for Wikipedia. ... Rare Earth. ... The term white American (often used interchangeably and incorrectly with Caucasian American[2] and within the United States simply white[3]) is an umbrella term that refers to people of European descent residing in the United States. ... Motown Records, also known as Tamla-Motown outside of the United States, is a record label originally based out of Detroit, Michigan (Motor City, hence mo(tor)town), from where it achieved widespread international success. ... Advertising slogans are short, often memorable phrases used in advertising campaigns. ... Powdered form of Ajax cleanser Liquid form of Ajax cleanser For other things named Ajax, see Ajax (disambiguation) Ajax cleanser (or Ajax brand cleanser with bleach) is a liquid or powdered industrial cleaner introduced by Colgate-Palmolive in 1947. ... Revenue men at the site of moonshine stills, Kentucky, 1911 or earlier For other uses, see Moonshine (disambiguation). ... White Lightning was an American psychedelic rock band from 1968 through 1971. ... This article is about the trade name. ... The wave shape (known as the dynamic ribbon device) present on all Coca-Cola cans throughout the world derives from the contour of the original Coca-Cola bottles. ... Various Listerine products Listerine is a brand name for antiseptic mouthwash. ... Rerun van Pelt is the name of Linus and Lucys younger brother in the comic strip Peanuts. ...

Covers and allusions

The song has been covered, sampled, and parodied extensively.

In the 90s, the words for the poem were memorably sampled by The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy. The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy was a Rap/Hip-Hop band active during the early 1990s. ...

The song was covered by The Last Poets as the title track for one of their albums. The Last Poets is a group of poets and musicians who arose from the late 1960s African American civil rights movements black nationalist thread. ...

Soul Rebels, a house music project created by vocalist Roland Clark, has covered the song in a dance version. House music is a style of electronic dance music that was developed by dance club DJs in Chicago in the early to mid-1980s. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Genaside II wrote a song called "The Genaside Will Not Be Televised" that brings together different aspects of the revolution. It is on the group's album Ad Finite.

British acid jazz group Smoove and dub band Brooklyn Funk Essentials parodied the song with their respective tracks "The Revolution Will Be Televised" and "The Revolution was Postponed Because Of Rain". Acid jazz (sometimes groove jazz) is a musical genre that combines jazz influences with elements of soul music, funk, disco and hip hop. ... For other uses, see Dub. ... Brooklyn Funk Essentials are an acid-jazz band featuring poets and musicians from different cultures, who have made international succes with their Turkish flavoured album In the buzz bag. The band regularly perform at Parisian jazz events. ...

Hip-hop artist Aesop Rock has also parodied the work, in his song "Coma" from Labor Days, "If the revolution ain't gon' be televised, then, fuck, I'll probably miss it." He later paid homage to the track on his LP "Bazooka Tooth," with the song "We're Famous" and the line, "The revolution will not be apologized for." Aesop Rock (born Ian Matthias Bavitz on 1976-05-11) is an American hip hop artist. ... Labor Days is underground rapper Aesop Rocks second album, and his first on the Definitive Jux record label. ... Bazooka Tooth is underground rapper Aesop Rocks third album, released under the Definitive Jux label in 2003. ...

British funk/jazz group Jamiroquai also claim "the revolution will be televised" in their track "The Kids" from their second album, The Return of the Space Cowboy, with singer Jay Kay adding "Yes, it will, Gil" as an ad lib. Jamiroquai (A portmanteau of Jam and iroquai, loosely based on the native American Indian tribe the Iroquois) is a Grammy Award-winning English funk / soul / disco band. ... The Return of the Space Cowboy is the second album by the band Jamiroquai. ... Jason Jay Kay (born December 30, 1969, Stretford - Manchester) is a British funk musician. ... See AdLib for the computer sound card manufacturer. ...

Elvis Costello's song "Invasion Hit Parade" from his 1991 album Mighty Like a Rose contains the lines "Incidentally the revolution will be televised/ With one head for business and another for good looks/ Until they started arriving with their rubber aprons and their butcher's hooks"[2], a clear (but opposite) allusion to the song. Elvis Costello (born Declan Patrick McManus August 25, 1954) is an English musician, singer, and songwriter. ... Mighty Like a Rose is an album by a British rock singer Elvis Costello, it was released on May 14, 1991. ...

The hip-hop group Public Enemy used the phrase "The revolution will not be televised" in the opening to its 1987 album, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back. Public Enemy, also known as PE, is a hip hop group from Long Island, New York, known for their politically charged lyrics, criticism of the media, and active interest in the concerns of the African American community. ... It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back is the second full-length album by American hip hop group Public Enemy, released on April 19, 1988 (see 1988 in music) on Def Jam Recordings. ...

Hip-hop artist Common used the term as an intro to his 2000 single "The 6th Sense" ("The revolution will not be televised; the revolution is here."). Lonnie Rashid Lynn, Jr. ...

Cee-lo Green uses a twist of the phrase on the song "Big Ole Words" [Cee-lo Green and His Perfect Imperfections] when he says: "The powers that be will be beaten into submission/ And you WILL be able to see my revolution on television."

Pop star Prince made extensive reference to this poem in his 1998 single "The War", a 26-minute noise jam/spoken word piece, in which a chant of "evolution will be colorized" is heard. Due to technical limitations, some web browsers may not display some special characters in this article. ...

The title track of Talib Kweli's "Beautiful Struggle" contains a reference. The opening verse begins with "Yo, I heard it's said the revolution won't be televised / But in the land of milk and honey there's a date you gotta sell it by." In its chorus, it's said, "The revolution is here."

The Pulp album This Is Hardcore finishes with the track The Day After The Revolution, which suggests that the revolution will be televised but everyone will miss it ("The revolution was televised / Now it's over, bye bye"). Pulp were a rock band, formed in Sheffield, England in 1978, by then 15-year-old school boy Jarvis Cocker (vocals, guitar). ... This Is Hardcore is an album by British alternative rock band Pulp, first released in March 1998 (see 1998 in music). ...

The Sarah Jones song "Your Revolution," a feminist interpretation of the song criticizing misogyny in mainstream hip hop (with the key line "Your revolution will not happen between these thighs"), was banned by the FCC.[3] Sarah Jones at UC Santa Barbara in the spring of 2004. ... Feminists redirects here. ... This box:      Misogyny (IPA: ) is hatred or strong prejudice against women; an antonym of philogyny. ... FCC redirects here. ...

Dana Bryant contributed a version of the song with updated lyrics to the 1993 FFRR compilation Giant Steps Volume One, substituting, for example, MC Hammer and "Just Do It" for some of Scott-Heron's original references. FFRR Records is a subsidiary of London Records. ... MC Hammer (born Stanley Kirk Burrell on March 30, 1962) is an American MC who was popular during the late 1980s and early 1990s, known for his dramatic rise to and fall from fame and fortune, his trademark Hammer pants, and for leaving a lasting influence on hip hop culture... Nike, Inc. ...

The rock band Piebald released an EP called The Rock Revolution Will Not Be Televised in 2000. The title track contains the lyrics "Can't you see by the look in our eyes that the rock revolution won't be televised?" Piebald is an American alternative rock band. ...

In 1993, the Welsh hip hop and electronica duo Llwybr Llaethog released a Welsh language version called "Fydd y Chwildro ddim ar y Teledu, Cyfaill" together with the poet Ifor ap Glyn. This article is about the country. ... Llwybr Llaethog (Welsh for Milky Way, although the Milky Way has several names in Welsh folklore) are an experimental Welsh language band that effectively mix such varied musical genres as rap, dub, reggae, hip hop, and punk in their music. ... Welsh redirects here, and this article describes the Welsh language. ...

In 2004, the Mexican hip hop and rock group Molotov released a Spanish-language version called "La Revolución." To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Molotov is a Mexican rock and hip hop band formed in Mexico City on September 23, 1995. ... This article is about the international language known as Spanish. ...

In 2004, gay cabaret duo Kiki and Herb performed the song as part of a medley called "The Revolution Medley" in their sold-out "farewell" performance at Carnegie Hall. The concert, including the medley, was recorded and released as a double-album in 2005, Kiki and Herb Will Die for You: Live at Carnegie Hall. Kiki and Herb (Justin Bond and Kenny Mellman) are an American drag cabaret duo. ... Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street. ...

Steve Earle played the Gil Scott-Heron recording immediately before the start of his set on tour dates in support of his 2004 album, The Revolution Starts Now. Steve Earle (born Stephen Fain Earle January 17, 1955) is an American singer-songwriter, well known for his rock and country music, as well as for his political views. ... The Revolution Starts Now, see The Steve Earle Show. ...

In 2006 Pearls Before Swine creator Stephan Pastis parodied the poem's title with a collection of comics entitled "The Ratvolution Will Not Be Televised". Pearls Before Swine is an American comic strip written and illustrated by Stephan Pastis, formerly a lawyer in San Francisco, California. ... Stephan Pastis Stephan Thomas Pastis (born January 16, 1968) is the creator of the comic strip Pearls Before Swine. ...

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, a documentary by Irish filmmakers, chronicles the April 11, 2002 coup against Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised (a. ... Documentary film is a broad category of visual expression that is based on the attempt, in one fashion or another, to document reality. ... is the 101st day of the year (102nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... List of Presidents of Venezuela José Antonio Páez (1830-1835) José María Vargas (1835-1837) Carlos Soublette (1837-1839) José Antonio Páez (1839-1843) Carlos Soublette (1843-1847) José Tadeo Monagas (1847-1851) José Gregorio Monagas (1851-1855) José Tadeo Monagas (1855-1858) Julián Castro (1858... Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (pronounced ) (born July 28, 1954) is the current President of Venezuela. ...

The NOFX song "The Marxist Brothers" (off their EP Never Trust a Hippie and album Wolves in Wolves' Clothing) mocks pseudo-intellectual leftism and vaguely alludes to Scott-Heron's song with the line "The people's revolution is going to be a podcast." NOFX is an American punk rock band formed in Los Angeles, California (now based in San Francisco), in 1983. ... This article is about the NOFX album. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Leftism can refer to: Left-wing politics An album by Leftfield ... A podcast is a digital media file, or a series of such files, that is distributed over the Internet using syndication feeds for playback on portable media players and personal computers. ...

The opening few bars of the 2006 Damian Marley (son of Bob Marley and Cindy Breakspeare) and Bobby Brown song "Beautiful" include the phrase "the revolution will be televised, feel me." Damian Marley (born July 21, 1978 in Kingston, Jamaica), is a three time Grammy-winning reggae artist and is the youngest son of reggae legend Bob Marley. ... This article is about the reggae musician. ... A publicity photo of Cindy. ... This article is about the R&B singer. ...

In the early 1990s, hip-hop/rap artist KRS-One did a re-imagining of the song using different lyrics for a Nike commercial. KRS-One (born Lawrence Krisna Parker on August 20, 1965 in Brooklyn, New York. ... Nike, Inc. ...

In an episode of The Colbert Report, Stephen Colbert stated that "The Revolution Will Not Be Verified," in reference to a revolution replacing facts and reality with "wikiality" by creating a truth by consensus. The Colbert Report (IPA ) is an American satirical television program that airs from 11:30 p. ... This article is about Stephen Colbert, the actor. ...

Matthew Good's song "21st Century Living" contradicts the original with the line, "Our ambition will televise the revolution, and it'll sell more fucking commercial spots than the Super Bowl, the Olympics, the World Series, and the Tragedy Du Jour combined." Matthew Frederick Robert Good (born June 29, 1971, Burnaby, British Columbia) is a Canadian rock musician. ... Avalanche was Matthew Goods first solo album. ...

BT and Rasco produced a song with updated lyrics: "The revolution will fought on all forms of media/ It will be fought on phone wires/ On cable modems" apparently in an attempt to maintain the same spirit of the original song. The song was released on both 10 Years in the Life in 2002 and the soundtrack album to Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. Brian Wayne Transeau (born October 4, 1971 in Rockville, Maryland) is an electronic musician, better known by his stage name, BT. He has been called the Father of Trance for his pioneering in the trance genre [1],[2] and Prince of Dance Music for his multi-instrumentalist skills [3], and... Rasco, whose name is an acronym for Realistic, Ambitious, Serious, Cautious, and Organized, is a rapper from San Mateo, California, United States, whose early recordings were released on Stones Throw Records. ... 10 Years In the Life is a compilation album by electronica artist Brian Transeau, also known as BT. It was released in 2002. ... Categories: Movie stubs | Action films | Adventure films | 2001 films | Films based on video games ...

Apple's release of the Apple TV carried the tag-line "The Revolution Will Be Televised." Apple Inc. ... Apple TV is a digital media receiver designed, marketed and sold by Apple. ...

Wu-Tang Clan's song "Wu-revolution" on their Wu-Tang Forever album contains the lyric "Yeah, the revolution should be, televised." Wu-Tang redirects here. ... Ghostface Killah chronology GZA/Genius chronology Wu-Tang Forever is the long-awaited follow-up to the Wu-Tang Clans first album Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). ...

Clothing company howies suggest in their spring 2007 artwork that "The revolution will not be televised, it will be blogged." There are very few or no other articles that link to this one. ...

In 2005, the French group Expérience covers the song under the name "La révolution ne sera pas télévisée" (French for The Revolution Will Not Be Televised), in their Positive Karaoke with a Gun / Negative Karaoke with a Smile album.

The song "Ignorance Is Beautiful" by Kyprios of the group Sweatshop Union begins with the lines "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, and the television will not be revolutionized..." Sweatshop Union is a Canadian hip hop collective. ...

External links

• Lyrics
• Video of The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
• Video of the Soul Rebels' cover version of 'The Revolution Will Not Be Televised'