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 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 four 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 moths confiscated
from a Harlem sanctuary.
The revolution will not be televised.
The revolution will not be brought to you
by the Schaeffer Award Theater
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 Mae
pushing that shopping cart down
the block on the dead run,
or trying to slide that color TV
into a stolen ambulance.
NBC will not be able to predict the winner
at 8 .32 on report from 29 districts.
The revolution will not be televised.
There will be no pictures of
pigs shooting down brothers
on the instant replay.
There will be no pictures of pigs
shooting down brothers
on 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 lights
of Roy Wilkins strolling through Watts
in a red, black and green
liberation jumpsuit
that he has been saving
for just the proper occasion.
Green Acres, Beverly Hillbillies,
and Hooterville Junction
will no longer be so damn relevant
and women will not care
if Dick finally got 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 11 o 'clock news
and no pictures of Harry R.
Women Liberationists
and Jackie Onassis blowing her nose.
The theme song will not
be written by Jim Webb
or Francis Scott Keys,
nor sung by Glen Campbell,
Tom Jones,
Johnny Cash,
Engelbert Humperdinck
or the Rare Earth.
The revolution will not be televised.
The revolution will not be right back
after a message about a white tornado,
white lightning or white people.
You will not have to worry
about a dove in your bedroom,
the tiger in your tank
or the giant in your toilet bowl.
The revolution will not go better with coke.
The revolution will not fight 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 rerun, brothers