Gil Scott Heron - The Revolution Will Not be Televised
"The Revolution Will Not be Televised" is an excellent springboard for discussion in the classroom. This song is notable for its extensive political and cultural references, many of which will be unclear to younger readers and listeners. The list below clarifies some of the references that Gil 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
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
Harlem, New York neighborhood
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 of the period 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, another 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 influenced by the 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 [3]
“Giant in your toilet bowl” - Reference to the Liquid Plumr Commercials that cleared your toilet so well it was like "having a giant in your toilet bowl [to work the plunger]. here would be an animation of a large disembodied arm using a plunger on your toilet. (advertising slogan)
“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)
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 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 brothers;
The revolution will be live.
"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
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
Harlem, New York neighborhood
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 of the period 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, another 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 influenced by the 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 [3]
“Giant in your toilet bowl” - Reference to the Liquid Plumr Commercials that cleared your toilet so well it was like "having a giant in your toilet bowl [to work the plunger]. here would be an animation of a large disembodied arm using a plunger on your toilet. (advertising slogan)
“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)
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 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 brothers;
The revolution will be live.
