Last Friday, one of America’s legendary musicians, Gil Scott-Heron died at the age of 62. He was a poet, whose lyrics depicted the African-American reality. His most famous song, The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, was first recorded in 1970, is considered by some to be the first rap song. In homage of this artist and considering the recent protests of the so-called Revolution of the Outraged (indignados), and the role of internet in its spontaneous conception, I think it would be appropriate to give this song a listen. .
You will not be able to stay home, brother.
You will not be able to plug in [1], turn on [2] and cop out [3].
You will not be able to lose yourself on skag [4],
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 and Spiro Agnew to eat
hog maws [5] 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 [6].
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 [7]
shooting down brothers in the instant replay [8].
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 [9] 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 [10] 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
about 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 [11] brothers;
The revolution will be live [12].
[1] enchufar [2] encender [3] lavarse las manos [4] argot por heroína [5] forro del estomago de cerdo utilizado en la preparación de ciertos platos [6] bultos [7] argot peyorativo por policía [8] repetición de la jugada [9] maldito [10] los mas destacados [11] repetición de programa [12] en directo
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