The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
Gil Scott-Heron


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 scag 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 four parts without commercial
interruption.
The revolution will not show you pictures of
Nixon blowing a bugle and leading a charge by
John Mitchell, General Abramson 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 Schaeffer Award Theatre and will not star
Natalie Wood 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.
The revolution will not be televised, brother.

There will be no pictures of you and Willie Mae
pushing that shopping cart down the block on
the dead run
or trying to slide that color t.v. in a stolen
ambulance.
NBC will not be able to predict the winner at
8:32 on reports from twenty-nine districts.
The revolution will not be televised.

There will be no pictures of pigs shooting down
brothers.
on the instant replay.
There will be no pictures of pigs shooting down
brothers
on the instant replay.
There will be no slow motion or still lifes of Roy
Wilkins strolling through Watts in a red, black
and green liberation jumpsuit that he has been
saving for just the proper occasion.

Green Acres, Beverly Hillbillies and Hooterville
Junction
will no longer be so damned relevant
and women will not care if Dick finally got down
with Jane
on Search for Tomorrow
because black people will be in the streets
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 or Francis Scott Key
nor sung by Glen Campbell, Tom Jones, Johnny
Cash,
Englebert Humperdink or Rare Earth.
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 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
not be televised
be televised
The revolution will be no re-run, brothers.
The revolution will be LIVE.