THIS is GOODBYE - GILL SCOTT HERON 2011 - The REVOLUTION will NOT BE TELEVISED

Adeus e obrigada to big one who came, did his work and left.

Gill Scott Heron one of my favorite artists, poet and activist died age 62 - alone. That is of little relevance compared to what he left us with - his knife cutting social, racial confronting poetry blended perfectly with his unique sense of musicality - to many the father of rap ( i DONT think this is the best way to describe him or remembering him though - he was just a ONE, UNIQUE black panther POET and ARTIST - nothing could really follow his line of work, because he was UNIQUE and only GILL SCOTT HERON could give continuity to its own voice - and now is forever silent).

Curiously, I grabbed my mind his troubled personal existence in this world, as a human being dominantly marked as a man, a lonesome one - statistically it has been gradually proven over the past 50 years or so - that single men tend to die young - I guess being totally free, having nothing to care fir unless your own personal interests may in some way put these man in a more vulnerable position when confronted with the male/ testosterone cravings - a craving for somehow danger situations - consequently increasing exposure to risk behavior during a lifetime (sex, drugs, alcohol, violence).

So being free, may be the ultimately dream, but that also, like all other things has a price with it. Truth is, for both sexes, having something in your life that you are deeply responsible for ( a wife, a husband, a family, a job, a career ) will ensure your changes of longevity because you will not be so prompted to engage is risk anymore.

But will safety bring us happiness long term?
Good question - im still looking for an answer o this one.

Rest in Peace Gill Scott H.

and as for all the revolutions waiting there to happen ( social, political or personal ones ), let us not forget that all THESE Revolutions asking to happen WILL NOT TELEVISED, or BLOGVISED or FACEBOOKTISED or INTERNETISED.


the REVOLUTION will put YOU in the DRIVERS SEAT,
the REVOLUTION will happen live.

the REVOLUTION will not be TELEVISED because
the FIRST REVOLUTION is when you CHANGE your MIND
about HOW you LOOK at THINGS
and see there may BE ANOTHER WAY of LOOKING AT THINGS
that you HAVE NOT BEEN SHOWN YET.




THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED



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,
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 and Spiro Agnew 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
Woods and Steve McQueen or Bullwinkle and Julia.
The revolution will not give your mouth sex appeal.
The revolution will not get rid of the nubs.
The revolution will not make you look five pounds
thinner, because the revolution will not be televised, Brother.

There will be no pictures of you and Willie May
pushing that shopping cart down the block on the dead run,
or trying to slide that color television into a stolen ambulance.
NBC will not be able predict the winner at 8:32
or report from 29 districts.
The revolution will not be televised.

There will be no pictures of pigs shooting down
brothers in the instant replay.
There will be no pictures of pigs shooting down
brothers in the instant replay.
There will be no pictures of Whitney Young being
run out of Harlem on a rail with a brand new process.
There will be no slow motion or still life of Roy
Wilkens strolling through Watts in a Red, Black and
Green liberation jumpsuit that he had been saving
For just the proper occasion.

Green Acres, The Beverly Hillbillies, and Hooterville
Junction will no longer be so damned relevant, and
women will not care if Dick finally gets down with
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 Humperdink, or the Rare Earth.
The revolution will not be televised.

The revolution will not be right back after a message
bbout a white tornado, white lightning, or white people.
You will not have to worry about a dove in your
bedroom, a 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, will not be televised.
The revolution will be no re-run brothers;
The revolution will be live.


MESSAGE  to MESSENGERS

And if they really knew the truth...why would they tell you? 


Remember...keep the nerve
Keep the nerve 
Keep the nerve
Keep the nerve
...I'm talkin' about peace





Hey, yeah, were the same brothas from a long time ago
We was talkin' about television and doin' it on the radio
What we did was to help our generation realize
They had to get out there and get busy cause it wasn't gonna be televised

We got respect for you rappers and the way they be free-weighin'
But if you're gon' be teachin' folks things, make sure you know what you're sayin'

Older folks in our neighborhood got plenty of know-how
Remember if it wasn't for them, you wouldn't be out here now
And I ain't comin' at you with no disrespect
All I'm sayin' is that you damn well got to be correct
Because if you're gonna be speakin' for a whole generation
And you know enough to try and handle their education
Make sure you know the real deal about past situations
It ain't just repeatin' what you heard on the local TV stations

...Sometimes they tell lies and put 'em in a truthful disguise
But the truth is that's why we said it wouldn't be televised 

They don't know what to say to our young folks, but they know that you do
And if they really knew the truth...why would they tell you? 

The first sign is peace, tell all them gun totin' young brothas 
That the man is glad to see us out there killin' one another
We raised too much hell when they was shootin' us down
So they started poisoning our minds tryin' to jerk us all around 

And they tell us they got to come in and control our situation
They want half of us on dope and the other half in incarceration


If the ones they want dead ain't killed by what they instigated
They put some dope on a brotha's body and claim it was drug related

Tell them drug related means there don't need to be no investigation
Or at least that's the way they're gon' play it on the local TV stations

All your 9-millimeter brothas...give them somthin' to think about
Tell them you heard that this is the new word, they got to work that stuff out
But somehow they feel in the wrong way with a gun in their hands
They feel real independent...but they just pullin' contracts for the man

Five and five will tell you it's hopeless out there on the avenue
But if they really knew the truth...why would they tell you?

And if they look at you like you're insane
And they start callin' you scarecrow and say you ain't got no brain

Or start tellin' folks that you suddenly gone lame
Or that white folks had finally co-opted your game
Or worse yet implying that you don't really know...
That's the same thing they said about us...a long time ago

Young rappers, one more suggestion before I get out of your way 
But I appreciate the respect you give me and what you got to say 
I'm sayin' protect your community and spread that respect around
Tell brothas and sistas they gotta calm that bullshit down
Cause we're terrorizin' our old folks and brought fear into our homes
And they ain't got to hang out with the senior citizens
Just tell them, “Dammit...leave the old folks alone”

And we know who rippin' off the neighborhood, tell them, “That BS has got to stop!”
Tell them you're sorry they can't handle it out there 
But they got to take the crime off the block

And if they look at you like you're insane
And they start callin' you scarecrow and say you ain't got no brain
Or start tellin' folks that you suddenly gone lame
Or that white folks had finally co-opted your game

Or worse yet saying that you really don't know...
That's the same thing they said about me a long time ago
And if they tell folks that you finally lost your nerve
That's the same thing they said about us, when we said, “Johannesburg”

But I think the young folks need to know, that things don't go both ways
You can't talk respect of every other song or just every other day

What I'm speakin' on now is the raps about the women folks
On one song she's your African Queen on the next one she's a joke
And you ain't said no words that I haven't heard, but that ain't no compliment
It only insults eight people out of ten and questions your intelligence

Four letter words or four syllable words won't make you important
It'll only magnify how shallow you are and let everybody know it

And if they look at you like they think you insane
Or they call you scarecrow thinkin' you ain't got no brain
Or start tellin' folks that you suddenly gone lame
Or that white folks have finally co-opted your game 
Or you really don't know...They said that about me a long time ago
If they finally start to tell people that you lost your nerve
That's what they said about Johannesburg

You ain't insane...you have got a brain
You haven't gone lame; you have got your game

Remember...keep the nerve
Keep the nerve 
Keep the nerve
Keep the nerve
...I'm talkin' about peace