The Revolution Will Not Be Televised - wikipedia The Revolution Will Not Be Televised For other uses, see The Revolution Will Not Be Televised ( disambiguation ). This article is in a list format that may be better presented using prose. You can help by converting this article to prose, if appropriate. Editing help is available. ( March 2014 ) `` 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 '' Released 1971 Format 7 - inch single Recorded April 19, 1971 RCA Studios, New York City Genre Funk spoken word Length 3 : 07 Label Flying 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 file help `` The Revolution Will Not Be Televised '' is a poem and 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 ). 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 title was originally a popular slogan among the 1960s Black Power movements in the United States. Its 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, which opens with the line `` When the revolution comes some of us will probably catch it on TV ''. Contents 1 Cultural references in the poem 2 In popular culture 3 References 4 External links Cultural references in the poem This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( February 2017 ) `` 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 Xerox, best - known manufacturer ( at the time of the poem 's writing ) of photocopying machines Richard Nixon, 37th president of the United States John N. Mitchell, U.S. Attorney General under Nixon General Creighton Abrams, one of the commanders of military operations in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War Mendel Rivers, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee during the period of the Vietnam War ( Rivers ' name appears in the original 1970 recording, but not in the re-recorded 1971 version, being replaced by Spiro Agnew ) Spiro Agnew, 39th vice president of the United States under Nixon `` Hog maws '', sometimes misheard as `` hog moss '', soul food made from the jowls, cheeks, or maw, of a pig Schaefer Award Theatre, an anthology of theatrical films that aired on several U.S. TV stations Natalie Wood, film actress Steve McQueen, film actor Bullwinkle, cartoon character Julia, a TV half - hour sitcom series starring Diahann Carroll. `` Give your mouth sex appeal '', from Ultra Brite toothpaste advertising `` The revolution will not get rid of the nubs '', the nubs being beard stubble, from a Gillette Techmatic razor advertisement of the period `` NBC will not be able to predict the winner at 8 : 32 '', a reference to television networks predicting the winner of presidential elections shortly after the polls close at 8 pm. Whitney Young, civil rights leader Roy Wilkins, executive director of the NAACP Watts, a neighborhood in Los Angeles, alluding 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, a U.S. television sitcom `` Hooterville Junction '' ( a corruption of Petticoat Junction, a U.S. television sitcom, and its fictitious location ) Dick and Jane, white children, a brother and sister, featured in American basal readers Search for Tomorrow, a popular U.S. television soap opera `` Hairy - armed women liberationists '', a reference to mid-century members of the feminist movement Jackie Onassis, the late U.S. President John F. Kennedy 's widow, seen during the period in television broadcasts of Kennedy memorials Jim Webb, U.S. composer Francis Scott Key, lyricist of `` The Star - Spangled Banner '' Glen Campbell, U.S. pop / country music singer, then hosting The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour Tom Jones, Welsh pop music singer, then hosting This Is Tom Jones Johnny Cash, U.S. country music singer, then hosting The Johnny Cash Show Engelbert Humperdinck, British pop music singer, then hosting The Engelbert Humperdinck Show Rare Earth, all - white U.S. pop music band signed to Motown Records ( this band is only referred to in the 1971 version ) `` White tornado '', advertising slogan for Ajax cleanser, `` Ajax cleans like a white tornado '' `` White lightning '', a slang term for moonshine, the name of a 1950s country and western song by George Jones, and an American psychedelic rock band. `` Dove in your bedroom '', an advertising image associated with a commercial that claimed Dove dishwashing liquid was so good for your hands that the bottle belonged in your bedroom with your beauty products. Reference to `` Put a tiger in your tank '', an Esso ( now Exxon ) advertising slogan created by Chicago copywriter Emery Smith `` Giant in your toilet bowl, '' a reference to Liquid - Plumr commercials saying that it cleared so well it was like `` having a giant in your toilet bowl '' with an animation of a large arm using a plunger on your toilet. Reference to `` Things go better with Coke '', a Coca - Cola advertising slogan Reference to `` Fights germs that may cause bad breath '', from Listerine advertising Reference to `` Let Hertz put you in the driver 's seat '', advertising slogan for Hertz car rental In popular culture In the beginning of hip hop artist Common 's song `` The 6th Sense '' from the 2000 album Like Water for Chocolate he states `` The revolution will not be televised, the revolution is here. '' Elvis Costello 's song `` Invasion Hit Parade '' from his 1991 album Mighty Like a Rose contains the lines `` Incidentally the revolution will be televised / With one head for business and another for good looks / Until they started arriving with their rubber aprons and their butcher 's hooks, '' an allusion to the song. The Sarah Jones song `` Your Revolution, '' a feminist interpretation of the song criticizing misogyny in mainstream hip hop, with the key line `` Your revolution will not happen between these thighs ''. A radio station that played the song was fined by the FCC. In the mid-1990s, hip - hop / rap artist KRS - One recorded a re-imagining of the song using different lyrics, written by Wieden + Kennedy copywriter Stacy Wall, for `` Revolution, '' a Jake Scott - directed Nike commercial featuring Jason Kidd, Jim Jackson, Eddie Jones, Joe Smith, and Kevin Garnett. The opening line of `` Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach '', performed by Snoop Dogg on the Gorillaz album Plastic Beach, is `` The revolution will be televised ''. A cover was recorded by the trio Labelle as part of a medley for their 1973 album, Pressure Cookin '. On their 1999 album Ad Finité the band Genaside II has a song called `` The Genaside Will Not Be Televised, '' where some words of the original text were changed, such as different film actors being named. The song appears in the 1999 Norman Jewison film The Hurricane and on its soundtrack. The Revolution Will Not be Funded : Beyond the Non-Profit Industrial Complex, a book published in 2009, references the song in its title. In 2010, New Statesman magazine listed it as one of the `` Top 20 Political Songs ''. In 2011, after Gil 's death, Lupe Fiasco released a poem dedicated to him titled `` The Television Will Not Be Revolutionized ''. In June 2013 a sign quoting the poem 's title ( in Greek ) was posted on a window inside the Greek state broadcaster ERT as employees resisted its closure by the government under pressure from the troika of the EU, ECB and the IMF to cut public spending under their austerity regime. Released in September 2013, South Korean entertainer G - Dragon 's Coup d'Etat contains a vocal sample of `` The Revolution Will Not Be Televised ''. Royce da 5'9 '' included a vocal sample from the beginning of the recording in his 2018 song `` Caterpillar. '' British rapper Dan Bull makes a reference to this poem in the second verse of his 2018 song `` OVERWATCH : WIDOWMAKER RAP SONG '' in the line `` but this revolution wo n't be televised though ''. References Jump up ^ Stokely Carmichael ( 1967 ). Black Power : The Politics of Liberation in America. Random House. ISBN 0679743138. Jump up ^ Abdul Malik Al Nasir ( June 6, 2018 ). `` Jalal Mansur Nuriddin : farewell to the ' grandfather of rap ' ''. The Guardian. Retrieved June 21, 2018. Jump up ^ Mansnerus, Laura ( 1 June 1996 ). `` Timothy Leary, Pied Piper Of Psychedelic 60 's, Dies at 75 ''. The New York Times. Retrieved 2009 - 10 - 02. Jump up ^ `` Common ( Ft. Dexter Thibou ) -- The 6th Sense ''. Jump up ^ `` The Elvis Costello Home Page ''. Jump up ^ Lee, Chisum ( 19 June 2001 ). `` Counter ' Revolution ' ''. The Village Voice. Retrieved 2009 - 10 - 02. Jump up ^ `` Eric King '' NIKE ' Revolution ' ``. Jump up ^ `` Review : Gorillaz, Plastic Beach ''. The Quietus. March 5, 2010. Retrieved June 14, 2012. Jump up ^ `` Gil Scott - Heron -- The Revolution Will Not Be Televised lyrics ''. Rap Genius. Retrieved June 14, 2012. Jump up ^ `` Review : Labelle, Pressure Cookin ' ''. Allmusic. Retrieved July 5, 2010. Jump up ^ `` Review : Genaside II, Ad Finité ''. Discogs. Retrieved 8 June 2012. Jump up ^ `` Sight&Sound : The Hurricane 1999 ''. British Film Institute. 1999. Archived from the original on August 2, 2011. Retrieved December 6, 2011. Jump up ^ INCITE ! ( 2017 ). The Revolution Will Not Be Funded : Beyond the Non-Profit Industrial Complex. Durham, North Carolina : Duke University Press. ISBN 978 - 0 - 8223 - 6900 - 4. Jump up ^ Smith, Ian ( March 25, 2010 ). `` Top 20 Political Songs : The Revolution Will Not Be Televised ''. New Statesman. Retrieved March 25, 2010. Jump up ^ `` Lupe Fiasco ''. Retrieved October 22, 2014. Jump up ^ Graeme Wearden ( June 12, 2013 ). `` Greece 's state broadcaster defies government closure ; RBS boss in shock resignation - as it happened Business ''. London : theguardian.com. Retrieved 2013 - 11 - 21. Jump up ^ `` ( Album Review ) G - Dragon ' Coup De'Tat ' ''. Allkpop. 6Theory Media. 14 September 2013. Retrieved 19 September 2013. Jump up ^ `` Coup D'etat, Pt. 1 ''. Allmusic. Retrieved 2013 - 11 - 22. Jump up ^ `` G - Dragon Covers Complex 's `` Coup d'Etat '' Week ! ``. Complex Magazine. 2013 - 09 - 09. Retrieved 2013 - 11 - 22. Jump up ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dARAN1z2KqY. Missing or empty title = ( help ) Jump up ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNRI-yAMqqI. Missing or empty title = ( help ) External links Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics Gil Scott - Heron Studio albums Solo Small Talk at 125th and Lenox ( 1970 ) Pieces of a Man ( 1971 ) Free Will ( 1972 ) The Mind of Gil Scott - Heron ( 1978 ) Real Eyes ( 1980 ) Reflections ( 1981 ) Moving Target ( 1982 ) Spirits ( 1994 ) I 'm New Here ( 2010 ) Nothing New ( 2014 ) with Brian Jackson Winter in America ( 1974 ) The First Minute of a New Day ( 1975 ) From South Africa to South Carolina ( 1975 ) Bridges ( 1977 ) Secrets ( 1978 ) 1980 ( 1979 ) with Jamie xx We 're New Here ( 2011 ) Live albums It 's Your World ( 1976 ) Minister of Information : Live ( 1994 ) Tour de Force ( Live ) ( 2004 ) Compilations The Revolution Will Not Be Televised ( 1974 ) The Best of Gil Scott - Heron ( Arista ) ( 1984 ) Tales of Gil Scott - Heron ( 1990 ) Glory : The Gil Scott - Heron Collection ( 1990 ) Ghetto Style ( 1998 ) The Gil Scott - Heron Collection : Sampler 1974 - 1975 ( 1998 ) Evolution ( And Flashback ) : The Very Best of Gil Scott - Heron ( 1999 ) Save the Children ( 2004 ) Anthology : Messages ( 2005 ) The Revolution Begins : The Flying Dutchman Masters ( 2011 ) Singles `` Home Is Where the Hatred Is '' `` The Bottle '' `` Johannesburg '' `` B - Movie '' `` Superman '' `` Hello Sunday ! Hello Road ! '' `` Storm Music '' `` Re-Ron '' `` Winter in America '' `` Space Shuttle '' `` Do n't Give Up '' `` The Klan '' `` Me and the Devil '' Other songs `` The Revolution Will Not Be Televised '' `` Rivers of My Fathers '' Related topics Discography Brian Jackson Perpis - Fall Music, Inc. Flying Dutchman Records Strata - East Records Proto - rap Orange Man Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Revolution_Will_Not_Be_Televised&oldid=855494755 '' Categories : 1970 songs African - American literature American poems Gil Scott - Heron songs Protest songs Hidden categories : Pages with citations lacking titles Pages with citations having bare URLs Articles needing cleanup from March 2014 All pages needing cleanup Articles with sections that need to be turned into prose from March 2014 Use mdy dates from June 2012 Articles with hAudio microformats Articles needing additional references from February 2017 All articles needing additional references Talk Contents About Wikipedia Deutsch Esperanto Français Italiano Português Svenska Edit links This page was last edited on 18 August 2018, at 18 : 39 ( UTC ). Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. 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Question: who sang the revolution will not be televised
Answer: Gil Scott-Heron