"The Revolution Will Not Be Televised"

"Home Is Where the Hatred Is"

1971

3:07

Gil Scott-Heron

"Plug in, turn on, and ", a reference to Timothy Leary's pro-LSD phrase "Turn on, tune in, drop out."[6]

cop out

"Skag", term for [7]

heroin

"Pigs", term for [8]

police

"Process", term for using chemicals to straighten a Black person's hair

[9]

best-known manufacturer (at the time of the poem's writing) of photocopying machines

Xerox

37th president of the United States

Richard Nixon

U.S. Attorney General under Nixon

John N. Mitchell

General , one of the commanders of military operations in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War

Creighton Abrams

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)

Mendel Rivers

39th vice president of the United States under Nixon

Spiro Agnew

"", sometimes misheard as "hog moss", soul food made from the stomach of a pig

Hog maws

, an anthology of theatrical films that aired on several U.S. TV stations

Schaefer Award Theatre

film actress

Natalie Wood

film actor

Steve McQueen

cartoon character

Bullwinkle

Julia, the lead character on the half-hour television sitcom series starring Diahann Carroll.

Julia

"Give your mouth sex appeal", from toothpaste advertising[10]

Ultra Brite

"The revolution will not get rid of the nubs", the nubs being beard stubble, from a Techmatic razor advertisement of the period

Gillette

baseball player

Willie Mays

" 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 p.m.

NBC

civil rights leader

Whitney Young

executive director of the NAACP

Roy Wilkins

a neighborhood in Los Angeles, alluding to the Watts Riots of 1965

Watts

"Red, black, and green", the colors of the

Pan-African flag

, a U.S. television sitcom

Green Acres

, a U.S. television sitcom

The Beverly Hillbillies

" Junction" (a corruption of Petticoat Junction, a U.S. television sitcom, and its fictitious location)

Hooterville

"...will no longer be so damned relevant," a statement of approval toward the that led to the above three shows being canceled

rural purge

generic white couple derived from white children, a brother and sister, featured in American basal readers

Dick and Jane

, a popular U.S. television soap opera

Search for Tomorrow

, another U.S. television soap opera

The Brighter Day

"Hairy-armed women liberationists", participants in [11]

second-wave feminism

the late U.S. President John F. Kennedy's widow, seen during the period in television broadcasts of Kennedy memorials

Jackie Onassis

U.S. composer

Jim Webb

lyricist of "The Star-Spangled Banner"

Francis Scott Key

U.S. pop/country music singer, then hosting The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour

Glen Campbell

Welsh pop music singer, then hosting This Is Tom Jones

Tom Jones

U.S. country music singer, then hosting The Johnny Cash Show

Johnny Cash

British pop music singer, then hosting The Engelbert Humperdinck Show

Engelbert Humperdinck

all-white U.S. rock band signed to Motown Records (this band is only referred to in the 1971 version)

Rare Earth

"White tornado", for Ajax cleanser, "Ajax cleans like a white tornado"

advertising slogan

"White lightning", a term for , the name of a 1950s country and western song by George Jones, and an American psychedelic rock band.

moonshine

"Dove in your bedroom", an advertising image associated with anti-perspirant deodorant

Dove

"Put a tiger in your tank", an Esso (now ) advertising slogan created by Chicago copywriter Emery Smith

Exxon

"Giant in your toilet bowl," a reference to 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.

Liquid-Plumr

"Things go better with Coke", a advertising slogan

Coca-Cola

"Fights germs that may cause bad breath", from advertising

Listerine

"Will put you in the driver's seat", reference to advertising slogan for car rental

Hertz

Each verse has several cultural references:[5]

List of socialist songs

Scott-Heron, Gil (2007). Eleveld, Mark (ed.). . The Spoken Word Revolution Redux. Naperville, Ill.: Sourcebooks MediaFusion. pp. 214–215.

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Gil Scott-Heron - The Revolution Will Not Be Televised