Introduction / The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

Good evening and welcome, my name is Gil Scott-Heron
My accomplices are, first, from left to right
Eddie Knowles, a drummer for the Denise salute dance group
A drummer for December dances
And a percussionist for a group called "Black & Blues"
The brother to my immediate left is Charlie Saunders
Of December dance group and a former drummer for Loretta Parker
David Barnes, a singer of "Black & Blues" will be heard later on in the evening
We'd like to do a poem for you, called "The revolution will not be televised"
Primarily, because it won't be

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 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 interruptions
The revolution will not show you pictures of Nixon
Blowing a bugle and leading a charge by John Mitchell
General Abrams and Mendel Rivers
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 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 TV into a stolen ambulance
NBC will not be able to 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 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 Wilkins
Strolling through Watts
In a Red, Black and Green liberation jumpsuit that he had been saving
For just the right occasion

Green Acres, The Beverly Hillbillies, and Hooterville Junction
Will no longer be so Goddamn relevant
And women will not care if Dick finally screwed 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 11 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, or Englebert Humperdink
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
Not be televised
The revolution will be no re-run brothers
The revolution will be live
Thank you