R.I.P. Gil Scott-Heron Lyrics

The Television Will Not Be Revolutionized

Idiot boxes of the world unite! To fight off the effects of intelligence, replace smart quotes with fart jokes, substitute sense with scenes from Martin, let the baby’s bathe in that glow and learn all manner of things they don’t really need to know!

The Television Will Not Be Revolutionized!

Channel the content of some rambling nonsense deep into the annals of yo’ subconscious, deprogram and depress chasing some televised success
Be them, that, they and those be everything but in control


The Television Will Not Be Revolutionized!

Small claims Court drama, teenage baby mamas, Osama watching Osama, Celebrity Endorsed indoor saunas, the perfectly cooked piraña and other cannonfodder for you to ponder, all at the speed of imitations of life while the smoke of war gets inhaled thru the peace pipes, be still my beating heart and scare my brain from thinking thoughts as I sit intoxicated by the delights, sarcasm and 3 strikes thrown by my favorite pitcher in a sound surrounded, 3 dimensional, high death, full color mixture, wholly unsocializing and completely uncensored

The Television Will Not Be Revolutionized!

By this one-eyed monster most of the world was raised, and by this hero most of the world was saved, and to this master most of the world is slaves, it factors your fears with actors and cheers from a live studio audience pushing you to engage in a heroic act of thoughtlessness for the grand prize of a little bread, fleeting fame in the circus and every thought in yo head

The Television Will Not Be Revolutionized!

Ain’t no changing me” said my flat screen TV, No More Che’s to the rescue, or Black Panthers to correct you, just coaxial cables and satellite signals to connect you to a world that doesn’t really look like it does on TV, where everything is much shorter, fatter, uglier and in disorder, where u have to do it now because there are no digital recorders where if the present gets boring you can just fast forward

The Television Will Not Be Revolutionized!

So there will be no revolution, or paradoxically ironic televised public execution of the entire worldwide televising institution, there won't even be a celebritized, televised trial of old baby blue, cuz you see my dear friends the television will not be revolutionized but what about the revolution that should taking place inside………………….of you?

How to Format Lyrics:

  • Type out all lyrics, even repeating song parts like the chorus
  • Lyrics should be broken down into individual lines
  • Use section headers above different song parts like [Verse], [Chorus], etc.
  • Use italics (<i>lyric</i>) and bold (<b>lyric</b>) to distinguish between different vocalists in the same song part
  • If you don’t understand a lyric, use [?]

To learn more, check out our transcription guide or visit our transcribers forum

About

Genius Annotation

Gil Scott-Heron was a spoken word poet, soul and jazz musician and author. Highly influential on many genres of black music from Hip Hop to neo-soul he is sometimes considered one of the originators and inspirators of rap music. His works include “Home Is Where the Hatred Is”, “Rivers of My Fathers” and quite possibly his most recognized work “The Revolution Will Not be Televised” which is the key reference in this piece crafted by Lupe Fiasco. This piece was written and posted on Lupe’s website as a homage to Gil Scott-Heron due to his passing on May 27th 2011

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

Credits
Tags
Comments