Well, this is like a poetry blog, so I thought I should post up one of Gil Scott-Heron’s spoken pieces (a masterclass in how to read your work out, guys) or maybe his Definition of a poet (“The fact that there are things outside of you that you want to affect, and there are things inside of you that you want to express…”) Earlier in the year I was writing about the new politicisation of the kids, and the situation in Egypt; so I was tempted today to put up his biggest hit, “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,” – it’s amazing how fresh it still is, and that it’s forty years old. (That voice again. You need to hear it. Otherwise how could you explain the gorgeous vowel at the end if “televised?” I know it’s just a regional accent but it’s a great voice.) Or I could have posted something from the seventies – but he has died far too young, and in a new pinnacle of creativity – so that might have given out the wrong message.
Then there’s this wonderful interview clip someone posted on Facebook today, where he says this amazing thing: “We were the only ones who had to carry the process through the process” (and, on a personal note, for those of you reading this who will get it, reminds me suddenly of Michael Donaghy; now there’s two guys who should have hung out together) – I love that, carry the process through the process. In a different sense it’s what all artists do.
There’s the astonishing video for “Me and the Devil” off last year’s comeback album, I’m New Here; but I’d never seen it till today, and it feels like it’s about another story – the kids, the cities, and a thing where my daughter and I were watching some woman from Chelsea, transplanted to our end of town, who kept talking about “youths” – to Mlle B’s utter disgust. So not that one for today.
But in the end I went for this, because it’s just incredibly beautiful.
Here’s one for the road: “The tools that you get to work with have a lot to do with things not staying the same. If they stayed the same you’d use the same tools…”
Dear Katy
I don’t know the first thing about him. Was he American?
I’m probably going to order your new book on Monday – when my pension comes in!
Best wishes from Simon
I had always thought of GSH as a Jazz/Civil Rights artist. It wasn’t until I heard an interview with his daughter that I realized he was, in the truest sense, a multimedia artist. The death of Heron is more than the passing of a great artist. It marks another step in our collective departure from the activism of the sixties and seventies.
I lament that the sense of outrage that had driven GSH and the various movements of the 20th Century have been subverted by the corporate machine and the general complacency of the industrialized populace. There are exceptions, but by and large, the majority of protest movements these days are short-lived and more about “what’s in it for me” or “not in my backyard” issues. There is a lack of recognition that the rank and file need to act together to produce a better society for everyone. It’s all about me now, and there is no you in me. True story.
I recently read a piece in the Washington Examiner about cronyism in the current White House. Aside from my thought that Obama isn’t doing anything that every other administration for the last 150 years hasn’t done, I took note of this tid-bit: “In his new book The Origins of Political Order, Francis Fukuyama identifies the chief building blocks of liberal democracy as a strong central state, a society strong enough to hold the state accountable and — equally crucial — the rule of law.” A salient and worthy point. What struck me is that we have the 1st element (on either side of the pond this appears true), and to a decreasing degree, the 3rd – though the rule of law is trending toward a much more conservative interpretation these days. What we (in the U.S., anyway) are really lacking is the societal strength to hold the state accountable. There are stories of political and corporate abuse everyday. Of the political-industrial complex taking advantage of the workers on a mass scale. Yes, there is some outrage – but only enough to let people know that the offense was wrong. The system is so corrupt that cries to reform/punish/regulate are given little more than lip service. In a strong society, this should lead to more umbrage on the part of the general public. In our current society, it leads to exactly nothing.
What will it take for us to rise up again and take back for the People what was given to the corporate elite?
Oh, right. There is this: http://publicdomainprotestsong.com/
You are SUCH A STAR. Guys, meet my brother.
Thanks for that Katy, never heard of him before. Poem/song reminds me of one of those ‘field hollers’ from Moby.
Wow. Thanks. Wow again. xxoo all around. m.
Wow.
Note to Simon:
They inhabit a different universe, all of them. I never know what’s going on any more, or who these people are. Even though he’s been around for 40 years influencing my kids, and I didn’t know he even existed. Dumb mum.
Dear Katy
I’ve just ordered a copy of ‘Egg Printing Explained’ from Amazon.co.uk I’m really looking forward to reading it. (It had better be good!) I’ll give you my thoughts in due course.
Love from Simon
Dear Mister Dog,
Sometimes you just dazzle.
Fondly,
Your Other Sis
Quick Adam, do us a LOLcats picture: “I’z in yur universe influencin yur kidz”
Mark, GSH has been around MUCH longer than Moby. Maybe think of him as the music equivalent of what they used to call a “poets’ poet” – he’s influenced everyone you care to think of, including Moby. His spoken word stuff was the, or certainly a, progenitor of rap – listen to the way he uses rhyme. He’s been adopted as the granddaddy of the rappers, but he isn’t one of them.
In fact, it’s hard to imagine Kanye, Missy or Puff Daddy caring much about whether the revolution will be televised or not.
And Ma, you don’t need to worry because GSH has never been a household name the way a lot of other people – say, Tom Waits – have been.
Mark, look for GSH also at the roots of the current “spoken word” scene, too.
Dear Katy
Please thank your mum for her sympathetic note. On the same same day that I ordered your book (yesterday) I was perusing the CDs in our local Tesco. The only one that remotely appealed was Kate Bush’s latest. So I bought a book by Katy Evans-Bush and a CD by Kate Bush on the same day. That must surely make me eligible for some sort of entry in The Guinness Book of Records.
Best wishes from Simon
I am now better educated and impressed by ‘The Revolution will not be televized.’
Ma, you’re such a star
I humbly submit the following hack imagery for your consideration:
LOLCatz