(Intro)(Gil Scott-Heron)
Poem here says, Comment #1
Uh, Comment #2 is dynamite
But Comment #1 is the one we decided
To use here this evening
Because it makes a comment if you listen
Closely on what is now being advertised
In East Harlem as the "Rainbow Conspiracy" - a combination of
The Students For A Democratic Society
The Black Panthers, and the Young Lords
And this is my particular comment about that conspiracy, Comment #1:
The time is in the street you know
Us living as we do upside down
And the new word to have is revolution
People don't even want to hear the preacher spill or spiel
Because God's hole card has been thoroughly piqued
And America is now blood and tears instead of milk and honey
The youngsters who were programmed
To continue f**ing up woke up one night
Digging Paul Revere and Nat Turner as the good guys. America stripped
For bed and we had not all yet closed our eyes. The signs of Truth
Were tattooed across our often-entered vagina
We learned to our amazement untold tale of scandal
Two long centuries buried in the musty vault
Hosed down daily with a gagging perfume
America was a ba*tard the illegitimate daughter
Of the mother country whose legs
Were then spread around the world
And a rapist known as freedom: free doom
Democracy, liberty, and justice were
Revolutionary code names that preceded
The bubbling bubbling bubbling bubbling
Bubbling in the mother country's crotch
And behold a baby girl was born
Nurtured by slave holders and whitey racists
It grew and grew and grew screwing
Indiscriminately like mother, like daughter
Everything unplagued by her madame mother
The present mocks us, good Black people
With keen memories set fire to the ba*tards
Who ask us in a whisper to melt and integrate
Young, very young, teeny
Bopping revolt on weekend young dig
By proxy what a mental a** kicking
They receive through institutionalized everything
And vomit up slogans to stay out of Vietnam
They seek to hide their relationship with the world's prostitute
Alienating themselves from everything
Except dirt and money with long hair, grime, and dope
To camo-hide the things that cannot be hidden
They become runaway children to walk the streets downtown with everyday
Black people sitting on the curb
Crying because we know that they will go back
Home with a clear conscience and a college degree
The irony of it all, of course
Is when a pale face SDS motherf**er dares
Look hurt when I tell him to go find his own revolution
He wonders why I tell him that America's revolution
Will not be the melting pot but the toilet bowl
He is fighting for legalized smoke, or lower voting age
Less lip from his generation gap and f**ing in the street
Where is my parallel to that?
All I want is a good home and a wife and a children
And some food to feed them every night
Back goes pale face to basics
Does Little Orphan Annie have a natural?
Do Sluggo's kings make him a refugee from Mandingo?
What does Webster's say about soul?
I say you silly chipe motherf**er, your great grandfather
Tied a ball and chain to my balls
And bounced me through a cotton field
While I lived in an unflushable toilet bowl
And now you want me to help you overthrow what?
The only Truth that can be delivered to a four year
Revolutionary with a whole card i.e. skin is this:
f** up what you can in the name of
Piggy Wallace, Dickless Nixon, and Spiro Agnew
Leave brother Cleaver and Brother Malcolm alone please
After all is said and done build a new route to China if they'll have you
Who will survive in America?
Who will survive in America?
Who will survive in America?
(Outro 1)
You're my devil, you're my angel
You're my heaven, you're my hell
You're my now, you're my forever
You're my freedom, you're my jail
You're my lies, you're my truth
You're my war, you're my truce
You're my questions, you're my proof
You're my stress and you're my ma**euse
Mama say, mama say, mama Maku-san
Lost in this plastic life
Let's break out of this fake-a** party
Turn this into a cla**ic night
If we die in each other's arms
Still get laid in that afterlife
If we die in each other's arms
Still get laid, yeah
(Bridge)(Gil Scott-Heron)
Who will survive in America?
Who will survive in America?
Who will survive in America?
(Outro 2)(Deezy)
A junkie walking through the twilight
I'm on my way home
I left three days ago, but noone seems to know I'm gone
Home is where the hatred is
Home is filled with pain and it
Might not be such a bad idea if I never, never went home again
Stand as far away from me as you can and ask me why
Hang on to your rosary beads
Close your eyes to watch me die
You keep saying, kick it, quit it, kick it, quit it
God, but did you ever try
To turn your sick soul inside out
So that the world, so that the world
Can watch you die
Home is where I live inside my white powder dreams
Home was once an empty vacuum that's filled now with my silent screams
Home is where the needle marks
Try to heal my broken heart
And it might not be such a bad idea if I never, if I never went home again
(Bridge)
(Outro 3)(Kanye West)
Walking about the room
I saw my grandma sweeping
With her old straw broom
But she didn't what she was doing
She could hardly understand
That she was really sweeping up..
Pieces of a man
I saw my daddy greet the mailman
And I heard the mailman say
"Now don't you take this letter to heart now Jimmy
Cause they've laid off nine others today"
But he didn't know what he was saying
He could hardly understand
That he was only talking to
Pieces of a man
I saw the thunder and heard the lightning!
And felt the burden of his shame
And for some unknown reason
He never turned my way
Pieces of that letter
Were tossed about that room
And now I hear the sound of sirens
Come knifing through the gloom
But they don't know what they are doing
They could hardly understand
That they're only arresting
Pieces of a man
(Bridge)
(Outro 4)(Deezy)
Early this mornin', when you knocked upon my door
Early this mornin', when you knocked upon my door
And I said, "Hello Satan, I believe it's time to go"
Me and the devil, walkin' side by side
Me and the devil, walkin' side by side
And I'm goin' to see my woman, until I get satisfied
She say you don't see why, that you will dog me 'round
(Now, babe, you know you ain't doin' me right)
Say, don't see why, you will dog me 'round
It must be that old evil spirit, so deep down in the ground
You may bury my body, down by the highway side
(I don't care where you bury my body when I'm gone)
You may bury my body, down by the highway side
So my old evil spirit, can catch a Greyhound bus and ride
(Bridge)
(Verse 1)(Deezy)
It stands out on the highway
Like a creature from another time
It inspires the babies' questions ("What's that?")
For their mothers as they ride
But no one stopped to think about the babies or
How they will survive
And we almost lost Detroit
This time
How will we ever get over
Losing our minds
Just thirty miles from Detroit
Lies a giant power station
It ticks each night as the city sleeps
Like a creature from another time
But no one stopped to think about the people or
How they will survive
The sheriff of Monroe County's got
Sure 'nough, disasters on his mind
But what would Karen Silkwood say to you
If she was still alive
That when it comes to people's safety
Money wins out every time
Almost lost Detroit
That time
How could we ever get over
Cause odds are
We're gonna lose somewhere, one time
Odds are
We're gonna lose somewhere, sometime
And how would we ever get over
Losing our minds (X2)
Didn't they, didn't they decide
Almost lost Detroit
That time
Damn near totally destroyed
One time
Didn't all of the world know?
Say didn't you know?
We almost lost Detroit
(Bridge)
(Bridge)
(Bridge)
(Verse 2) (C-Beatz)
From the Indians who welcomed the pilgrims
And to the buffalo who once ruled the plains
Like the vultures circling beneath the dark clouds
Looking for the rain
Looking for the rain
Just like the cities staggered on the coastline
Living in a nation that just can't stand much more
Like the forest buried beneath the highway
Never had a chance to grow
Never had a chance to grow
And now it's winter
Winter in America
Yes and all of the healers have been k**ed
Or sent away, yeah
But the people know, the people know
It's winter
Winter in America
And ain't nobody fighting
Cause nobody knows what to say
Save your soul, Lord knows
From Winter in America
The Constitution
A noble piece of paper
With free society
Struggled but it died in vain
And now Democracy is ragtime on the corner
Hoping for some rain
Looks like it's hoping
Hoping for some rain
And I see the robins
Perched in barren treetops
Watching last-ditch racists marching across the floor
But just like the peace sign that vanished in our dreams
Never had a chance to grow
Never had a chance to grow
And now it's winter
It's winter in America
And all of the healers have been k**ed
Or been betrayed
Yeah, but the people know, people know
It's winter, Lord knows
It's winter in America
And ain't nobody fighting
Cause nobody knows what to save
Save your souls
From Winter in America
And now it's winter
Winter in America
And all of the healers done been k**ed or sent away
Yeah, and the people know, people know
It's winter
Winter in America
And ain't nobody fighting
Cause nobody knows what to save
And ain't nobody fighting
Cause nobody knows, nobody knows
And ain't nobody fighting
Cause nobody knows what to save
(Verse 3) (DJ Tolse)
Hey yeah, we the same brothers from a long time ago
We was talkin' about television and doin' it on the radio
What we did was to help our generation realize
They had to get out there and get busy cause it wasn't gonna be televised
We got respect for you rappers and the way they be free-weighin'
But if you're gon' be teachin' folks things, make sure you know what you're sayin'
Older folks in our neighborhood got plenty of know-how
Remember if it wasn't for them, you wouldn't be out here now
And I ain't comin' at you with no disrespect
All I'm sayin' is that you damn well got to be correct
Because if you're gonna be speakin' for a whole generation
And you know enough to try and handle their education
Be sure you know the real deal about past situations
It ain't just repeatin' what you heard on the local TV stations
Sometimes they tell lies and put 'em in a truthful disguise
But the truth is that's why we said it wouldn't be televised
They don't know what to say to our young folks, but they know that you do
And if they really knew the truth, why would they tell you?
The first sign is peace, tell all them gun totin' young brothers
That the man is glad to see us out there k**in' one another
We raised too much hell when they was shootin' us down
So they started poisoning our minds tryin' to jerk us all around
And then they tell us they got to come in and control our situation
They want half of us on dope and the other half in incarceration
If the ones they want dead ain't k**ed by what they instigated
They put some dope on a brother's body and claim it was drug related
Tell them drug related means there don't need to be no investigation
Or at least that's the way they're gon' play it on the local TV stations
All your 9-millimetre brothers, give them somthin' to think about
Tell them you heard that this is the new word, they got to work that stuff out
But somehow they feel in the wrong way with a gun in their hands
They feel real independent, but they just pullin' contracts for the man
Five and five will tell you it's hopeless out there on the avenue
But if they really knew the truth, why would they tell you?
And if they look at you like you're insane
And they start callin' you scarecrow and say you ain't got no brain
Or start tellin' folks that you suddenly gone lame
Or that white folks had finally co-opted your game
Or worse yet implying that you don't really know...
That's the same thing they said about us; a long time ago
Young rappers, one more suggestion before I get out of your way
But I appreciate the respect you give me and what you got to say
I'm sayin' protect your community and spread that respect around
Tell brothers and sisters they gotta calm that bullsh** down
Cause we're terrorizin' our old folks and brought fear into our homes
And they ain't got to hang out with the senior citizens
Just tell them, Dammit, leave the old folks alone
And we know who rippin' off the neighborhood, tell them, That BS has got to stop!
Tell them you're sorry they can't handle it out there
But they got to take the crime off the block
And if they look at you like you're insane
And they start callin' you scarecrow and say you ain't got no brain
Or start tellin' folks that you suddenly gone lame
Or that white folks had finally co-opted your game
Or worse yet saying that you really don't know
That's the same thing they said about me a long time ago
And if they tell folks that you finally lost your nerve
That's the same thing they said about us, when we said, Johannesburg
But I think the young folks need to know, that things don't go both ways
You can't talk respect on every other song or just every other day
What I'm speakin' on now is the raps about the women folks
On one song she's your African Queen on the next one she's a joke
And you ain't said no words that I haven't heard, but that ain't no compliment
It only insults eight people out of ten and questions your intelligence
Four letter words or four syllable words won't make you important
It'll only magnify how shallow you are and let everybody know it
And if they look at you like they think you insane
Or they call you scarecrow thinkin' you ain't got no brain
Or start tellin' folks that you suddenly gone lame
Or that white folks have finally co-opted your game
Or you really don't know, they said that about me a long time ago
If they finally start to tell people that you lost your nerve
That's what they said about Johannesburg
You ain't insane, you have got a brain
You haven't gone lame; you have got your game
(Verse 4)(Deezy)
I sail alone in my paper ship
The seat is made of fire
I ride my horse of nuts and bolts
We're made to never tire
The world is just a simple circle
I've got to keep on turning
Yea, I've got to keep on turning
'Til I fall down
To the top of the mountain
Inside a hollow stone
I pretend I'm an iron man, yes
Instead of flesh and bone
The world is just a simple circle
And it keeps on turning
Yea, and it keeps on turning
You've got to
Go away, I can't stand to see your face
Cuz you seem the weakest link
And now you know I'm only human
Instead of all the things I'd like to be
The world is just a simple circle
You've got to keep on turning
Yea, you've got to keep on turning
Or down you fall
(uh)
(Bridge)
(Bridge)
(Verse 5) (Gil Scott-Heron)
You have understood
The riddles of the ages
Yes and you have understood
The universal nine
You have placed your footprints on
The everlasting sands of time
Yes so tell me why
Can't you understand that there ain't no such thing as a superman?
There ain't no such thing as a superman
You was on the Nile
You went to see great Egypt fall
It fell down to the ground
Yes, and you was out there on the corner
When being cool went blind
Oh, you alone understand that if we gonna win
We've got to get together, stay together, be together, stick together
(Deezy)
So tell me why, can't you understand
That there ain't no such thing as a superman
There ain't no such thing as a superman
You alone consider mercy after it seems like all you get is pain
It seem to me that you have found the courage that others could not find
You alone have the wisdom to take this world and make it what it need to be, want to be, will be, someday you'll see
The day, the day you understand
That there ain't no such thing as a superman
There ain't no such thing as a superman
(Bridge)
(Bridge)
(Hook)
I'm lost in the world, I'm down on my life
I'm new in the city, and I'm down for the night
Down for the night
Said she's down for the night
(Bridge 2)
I, I Will Survive, 'ive
[I said]
I, I Will Survive, 'ive
[I said]
We, we Will Survive, 'ive
[I said]
We, we Will Survive, 'ive
[Hell yeah...ha!]
[Say it again, ha!]
I, I Will Survive, 'ive
[What's a n***a say?]
I, I Will Survive, 'ive
[Motherf**er what's you sayin?]
We, we Will Survive, 'ive
[What's a n***a sayin?]
We, we Will Survive, 'ive
[Even if we lost]
(Hook)
(Bridge 2)
Maybe were over
Maybe we just started
Baby, we sober
This night is retarded
So, I'm leaving the game
Yeah, girl I'm gone
f** this fake fame
I'm outta this zone
Set to retire, man
So just move the f** on
(Verse 6) (Deejay Twitch)
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 s** 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 Ona**is 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
Bbout 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
(Hook)
(Bridge)
(Bridge)
(Hook)
(Hook)
(Final Outro)
Well, I guess I'm done now
This is a long a** song
Ha. Thank you to all, whoever liked my sh**
Whoever liked my raps
Whoever liked my songs
Thank you. Thank you
And now I close the curtains
~The End~