Did You Hear What They Said?

Annotation

In the song "Did You Hear What They Said?", released on Bob Thiele's Flying Dutchman label (# FD-10153), Scott-Heron focused on the impact of the war on the families of soldiers fighting the war. The narrator told of hearing about a soldier "shot in his head", and that someone said it was in order to "save his country". But a mother cried "cause her only son was dead". So Scott-Heron, horrified by this scenario, said "come on, this can't be real".

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: Did you hear what they said / They said another brother's dead / They said he's dead... / But he can't be buried... / Did you hear what they said / They said they shot him in his head / A shot in his head to save his country / Come on, this can't be real... / Did you hear what they said, about his mother and how she cried / They said she cried, 'cause her only son was dead... / Woman, could you imagine if your only son was dead

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] 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 #…

Themes

Anti-War

In collections

Jazz Songs · Peace, Protest, & Anti-War Songs [War Years] · Soul, Gospel, & Funk Songs