The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

For other uses, see The Revolution Will Not Be Televised (disambiguation).

"The Revolution Will Not Be Televised"
Single by Gil Scott-Heron
from the album Pieces of a Man
A-side"Home Is Where the Hatred Is"
Released1971
Recorded
Genre
Length3:07
LabelFlying Dutchman
Songwriter(s)Gil Scott-Heron
Producer(s)Bob Thiele
Gil Scott-Heron singles chronology
"The Revolution Will Not Be Televised"
(1971) 		"The Bottle"
(1974)
Audio sample
"The Revolution Will Not Be Televised"

"The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" is a satirical poem and Black Liberation song by Gil Scott-Heron. Scott-Heron first recorded it for his 1970 album Small Talk at 125th and Lenox, on which he recited the lyrics, accompanied by congas and bongo drums. A re-recorded version, with a full band, was the B-side to Scott-Heron's first single, "Home Is Where the Hatred Is", from his album Pieces of a Man (1971), featuring a distinctive bass line by jazz bassist Ron Carter. It was also included on his compilation album, The Revolution Will Not Be Televised (1974). All these releases were issued on the Flying Dutchman Productions record label.

The song's lyrics either mention or allude to several television series, advertising slogans and icons of entertainment and news coverage that serve as examples of what "the revolution will not" be or do. The song is a response to the spoken-word piece "When the Revolution Comes" by The Last Poets, from their eponymous debut album, which opens with the line "When the revolution comes some of us will probably catch it on TV".[2]

It was inducted to the National Recording Registry in 2005.[3]

In 2021, it was ranked at No. 258 on Rolling Stone's "Top 500 Best Songs of All Time".[4]

  1. ^ Gorton, TJ (July 30, 2018). "BeatCaffeine's 100 Best Jazz-Funk Songs". BeatCaffeine. Archived from the original on August 25, 2018. Retrieved September 19, 2021.
  2. ^ Al Nasir, Abdul Malik (June 6, 2018). "Jalal Mansur Nuriddin: farewell to the 'grandfather of rap'". The Guardian. Archived from the original on June 21, 2018. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
  3. ^ "The National Recording Registry 2005". The Library of Congress. October 25, 2006. Archived from the original on February 2, 2007. Retrieved February 9, 2007.
  4. ^ "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. September 15, 2021. Retrieved July 18, 2022.