Comment #1

Annotation

Gil Scott-Heron (1949-2011), born in Chicago, but mainly based in New York, is well-known as a soul and jazz artist with cutting edge political and social spoken-word recordings, particularly on issues to do with the treatment of African-Americans. He often collaborated with Brian Jackson. Several of these spoken-word tracks referenced the Vietnam War - "Comment # 1" (1970), "H20 Gate Blues" (1974), "Pardon Our Analysis (We Beg Your Pardon)" (1975), and "Bicentennial Blues" (1976). He also mentioned the war in the soul tracks "Did You Hear What They Said?" (1972) and "Waiting for the Axe to Fall" (1980).In the track "Comment #1" (Flying Dutchman # FDS 131) Scott-Heron talked about the history of America with particularly reference to slavery, false freedoms and false revolution: "Democracy, liberty, and justice were revolutionary code names...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". He then turned his attention to the anti-war movement - in particular, white college kids who "vomit up slogans to stay out of Vietnam" - but who, according to Scott-Heron, did not…

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

About the artist

American poet, singer and composer, born 1 April 1949 in Chicago, Illinois; pioneer of politically charged spoken-word soul ('The Revolution Will Not Be Televised'); died 27 May 2011 in New York City, New York. [Source: Wikipedia]

Themes

Anti-War · Civil Rights

In collections

Civil Rights Songs · Jazz Songs · Peace, Protest, & Anti-War Songs