Some Background on "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" by Gil Scott-Heron

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised first appeared on the album Small Talk at 125th and Lenox in 1970. Gil Scott Heron recited his poem while being accompanied by congas and bongo drums. It was re-recorded in 1971 with a full band on the album Pieces Of A Man, and on "Home Is Where The Hatred Is"/"The Revolution Will Not Be Televised".

The Last Poets covered it as the title track for one of their albums.
Soul Rebels did a dance version.
Smoove alluded to the poem in "The Revolution Will Be Televised"
Brooklyn Funk Essentials also alluded to the poem in "The Revolution was Postponed Because Of Rain".
Aesop Rock in the song "Coma" from Labor Days, "If the revolution ain't gon' be televised, then, fuck, I'll probably miss it." Also on his LP "Bazooka Tooth," with the song "We're Famous" and the line, "The revolution will not be apologized for."
Jamiroquai "The Kids" from the album, The Return of the Space Cowboy: "the revolution will be televised"
Elvis Costello in "Invasion Hit Parade" from the album Mighty Like a Rose, "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"
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,"
Common used the term "The revolution will not be televised; the revolution is here." in the intro to his 2000 single "The 6th Sense"
Cee-lo Green in the song "Big Ole Words", "The powers that be will be beaten into submission And you WILL be able to see my revolution on television."
Prince in the song "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 with "The revolution was televised / Now it's over, bye bye"
Sarah Jones in "Your Revolution", "Your revolution will not happen between these thighs"
Piebald in "The Rock Revolution Will Not Be Televised", "Can't you see by the look in our eyes that the rock revolution won't be televised?"
Steve Earle played the song immediately before the start of his set on tour dates in support of his 2004 album, The Revolution Starts Now.
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, a documentary by Irish filmmakers, chronicles the April 11, 2002 coup against Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez.
In the early 90's hip-hop/rap artist KRS-One did a re-imagining of the song using different lyrics for a Nike commercial.


The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
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 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 Onassis 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.