Why won't the Revolution be televised?

Question

They always say the revolution will not be televised but they show everything on CNN, Fox News and MSNBC. So why not the revolution?

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

Answer 1

G'day Michelle C,

Thank you for the question.

"The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" is a poem and song by Gil Scott-Heron, which commented upon the political and social turmoil of late 1960s/early 1970s America. It was a criticism of television's role in modern day society.

It first appeared on the 1970 album Small Talk at 125th and Lenox, on which Scott-Heron recited the piece, accompanied only by congas and bongo drums. A re-recorded version, this time with a full band, appeared on the 1971 album Pieces Of A Man, and on the double A-sided single "Home Is Where The Hatred Is"/"The Revolution Will Not Be Televised". All of these releases were issued on the Flying Dutchman Productions label. The piece's name was also used as the title to Scott-Heron's "Best of" album, issued in 1998 by RCA. The track which you have cited was not a hit but became very well-known.

More recently, the song has been covered, sampled and parodied extensively. In the nineties, the words for the poem were memorably sampled by The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy. The song was also covered by The Last Poets as the title track for one of their albums. Soul Rebels, a house music project created by vocalist Roland Clark, has covered the song in a dance version. British acid jazz group Smoove and dub band Brooklyn Funk Essentials parodied the song with their respective tracks "The Revolution Will Be Televised" and "The Revolution was Postponed Because Of Rain". Hip-hop artist Aesop Rock has also parodied the work, in his song "Coma" from Labor Days, "If the revolution ain't gon' be televised, then, ****, I'll probably miss it." He later paid homage to the track on his LP "Bazooka Tooth," with the song "We're Famous" and the line, "The revolution will not be apologized for."

The hip-hop group Public Enemy used the phrase "The revolution will not be televised" in the opening to its 1987 album, "It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back," and hip-hop artist Common used the term as an intro to his 2000 single "The 6th Sense" ("The revolution will not be televised; the revolution is here."). Cee-lo Green uses a twist of the phrase on the song "Big Ole Words" [Cee-lo Green and His Perfect Imperfections] when he says: "The powers that be will be beaten into submission And you WILL be able to see my revolution on television." Pop star Prince also made extensive reference to this poem in his 1998 single "The War", a 26 minute noise jam/spoken word piece, in which a chant of "evolution will be colorized" is heard.

The Pulp album This Is Hardcore finishes with the track The Day After The Revolution, which suggests that the revolution will be televised but everyone will miss it ("The revolution was televised / Now it's over, bye bye").

The Sarah Jones song "Your Revolution", a feminist interpretation of the song criticizing misogyny in mainstream hip hop, was banned by the FCC.

The rock band Piebald released an EP called "The Rock Revolution Will Not Be Televised" in 2000. The title track contains the lyrics "Can't you see by the look in our eyes that the rock revolution won't be televised?"

In 2004, the Mexican hip hop and rock group Molotov released a Spanish-language version called "La Revolución".

In 2004, gay cabaret duo Kiki and Herb performed the song as part of a medley called "The Revolution Medley" in their sold-out "farewell" performance at Carnegie Hall. The concert, including the medley, was recorded and released as a double-album in 2005, called Kiki and Herb Will Die for You: Live at Carnegie Hall.

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, a documentary by Irish filmmakers, chronicles the April 11, 2002 coup against Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez.

The NOFX song The Marxist Brothers (off their EP Never Trust a Hippie and album Wolves in Wolves' Clothing) mocks pseudo-intellectual leftism and vaguely alludes to Scott-Heron's song with the line "The people's revolution is going to be a podcast".

On July 5th, 2006, Gil Scott-Heron was sentenced to two-to-four years in prison for violating a plea deal on a drug possession charge by leaving a treatment center. Heron said he is HIV-positive and claimed the in-patient rehab center stopped giving him his medication. The prosecution countered that Heron had once skipped out for an appearance with singer Alicia Keys. He had previously been jailed for three years for cocaine possession.

I have attached some sources for your reference.

Regards

Answer 2

Really? They show everything? What have you seen of the revolution in Mexico. It's been going on (and growing) for decades. What's going on in Japan? Kenya? Cambodia? Etc, etc.
Television is owned by and under the control of the global corporations that are overheating the planet at a deadly rate to squeeze a few extra lousy dollars of profit.
NOTHING will be televised that does not advance this goal. The revolution WILL NOT be televised. Be informed, ignore TV news. And don't forget, eat the rich.

Answer 3

that is hilarious! as soon as i saw your question i cracked up. i think the revolution is suppose to be some covert operation. i say that if you're not gonna televise it, then atleast e-mail a sista.

Answer 4

Because George Washington is dead

Answer 5

What revolution are you talking about?

Answer 6

Because the mainstream media will be the first to go...
}:-(

Answer 7

dont know

Answer 8

because you are...........................................