Gil Scott-Heron Album

Hey, yeah, we the same brothas from a long time ago
We was talkin' about television and doin' it on the radio
What we did was to help our generation realize
They had to get out there and get busy cause it wasn't gonna be televised
We got respect for you rappers and the way they be free-weighin'
But if you're gon' be teachin' folks things, make sure you know what you're sayin'
Older folks in our neighborhood got plenty of know-how
Remember if it wasn't for them, you wouldn't be out here now
And I ain't comin' at you with no disrespect
All I'm sayin' is that you damn well got to be correct
Because if you're gonna be speakin' for a whole generation
And you know enough to try and handle their education
Make sure you know the real deal about past situations
It ain't just repeatin' what you heard on the local TV stations
...Sometimes they tell lies and put 'em in a truthful disguise
But the truth is that's why we said it wouldn't be televised
They don't know what to say to our young folks, but they know that you do
And if they really knew the truth...why would they tell you?
The first sign is peace, tell all them gun totin' young brothas
That the man is glad to see us out there killin' one another
We raised too much hell when they was shootin' us down
So they started poisoning our minds tryin' to jerk us all around
And they tell us they got to come in and control our situation
They want half of us on dope and the other half in incarceration
If the ones they want dead ain't killed by what they instigated
They put some dope on a brotha's body and claim it was drug related
Tell them drug related means there don't need to be no investigation
Or at least that's the way they're gon' play it on the local TV stations
All your 9-millimeter brothas...give them somthin' to think about
Tell them you heard that this is the new word, they got to work that stuff out
But somehow they feel in the wrong way with a gun in their hands
They feel real independent...but they just pullin' contracts for the man
Five and five will tell you it's hopeless out there on the avenue
But if they really knew the truth...why would they tell you?
And if they look at you like you're insane
And they start callin' you scarecrow and say you ain't got no brain
Or start tellin' folks that you suddenly gone lame
Or that white folks had finally co-opted your game
Or worse yet implying that you don't really know...
That's the same thing they said about us...a long time ago
Young rappers, one more suggestion before I get out of your way
But I appreciate the respect you give me and what you got to say
I'm sayin' protect your community and spread that respect around
Tell brothas and sistas they gotta calm that bullshit down
Cause we're terrorizin' our old folks and brought fear into our homes
And they ain't got to hang out with the senior citizens
Just tell them, “Dammit...leave the old folks alone”
And we know who rippin' off the neighborhood, tell them, “That BS has got to stop!”
Tell them you're sorry they can't handle it out there
But they got to take the crime off the block
And if they look at you like you're insane
And they start callin' you scarecrow and say you ain't got no brain
Or start tellin' folks that you suddenly gone lame
Or that white folks had finally co-opted your game
Or worse yet saying that you really don't know...
That's the same thing they said about me a long time ago
And if they tell folks that you finally lost your nerve
That's the same thing they said about us, when we said, “Johannesburg”
But I think the young folks need to know, that things don't go both ways
You can't talk respect of every other song or just every other day
What I'm speakin' on now is the raps about the women folks
On one song she's your African Queen on the next one she's a joke
And you ain't said no words that I haven't heard, but that ain't no compliment
It only insults eight people out of ten and questions your intelligence
Four letter words or four syllable words won't make you important
It'll only magnify how shallow you are and let everybody know it
And if they look at you like they think you insane
Or they call you scarecrow thinkin' you ain't got no brain
Or start tellin' folks that you suddenly gone lame
Or that white folks have finally co-opted your game
Or you really don't know...They said that about me a long time ago
If they finally start to tell people that you lost your nerve
That's what they said about Johannesburg
You ain't insane...you have got a brain
You haven't gone lame; you have got your game
Remember...keep the nerve
Keep the nerve
Keep the nerve
Keep the nerve
...I'm talkin' about peace

[No lyrics]

Give Her a Call on the Spirits album, 1994.

My life is one of movement

I been running as fast as I can

I've inherited trial and error directly from my old man

But I'm committed to the consequences

Whether I stand or fall

And when I get back to my life

I think I'm gonna give her a call

She's been waiting patiently

For me to get myself together

And it touches something deep inside

When she said she'd wait forever

Because forever's right up on me now

That is, if it ever comes at all

And when I'm back to my life

I think I'll give her a call.

[No lyrics]

It's getting to be the time of year
When people once spoke of love and good cheer
Peace on Earth and good will to all men

And we all believed that there'd come a day
When peace would be much more than "on it's way"
Cause peace has been on it's way since I don't know when

And the folks who decide what will be
They haven't confided in me
And i don't think that everybody can wait 'til then

It makes me sad that my kids won't see
Christmas the way it used to be
I was so excited though we didn't have a dime

But that seems like such a long time ago
And I am still a child I know
But it seems like we've lost much more than the time

Cause the folks who decide what will be
They haven't confided in me
And I don't think that everybody can wait 'til then

No, I don't think that everybody can wait 'til then

No, I don't think that everybody can wait 'til then

The Other Side Part I
--Gil Scot Heron

Sometimes I feel like I'm just wasting time
Looking for another side

Sometime I feel like I'm losing my mind ‘cause there ain't
No other side

Sometimes I'm just spinning my wheels, ain't no big deal
Morning, there's another side

Sometimes I feel like I'm just standing in place, ain't no real race
Ain't no other side

Life is like a circle and you end up where you started
If you end up where you started ain't no other side

Yeah, but if life is like a curtain that I'm 90% certain that I'm looking through at something
Yes, I'm almost touching something on the other side

Yeah, the opposite of new is old
The opposite of young is old
Seems like everything has got another side
Yeah, but young ones want to be old ones
Old ones know what they would do if they was young ones
People ain't never really satisfied
People ain't never satisfied

If life is like a mirror then the nearer you get clearer
You can see it so much clearer
Feel like you know about the other side

My friends all swear that they know

What I should do with my life
How I should run my life
What should be happening with my life
They're on the other side

They're on the outside
I'm on the inside

Things always look so much better on the other side
Four O'clock in the morning
They don't know
All the things I been needing
They don't know
Breaking out in a sweat
And they don't know

Feeling down
And they don't know
They don't know the other side

I need to go home
Momma could change it
Daddy could help me
Yes, I could go home

Yeah, Momma don't need to see me this way
Know me this way
Touch me this way
Love me this way
Find me this way
I can't go home

I'm saying
I don't want to call him
I don't want to know him
I don't want to need him
I don't want to feel it
I don't want to know

But I know, know know

Hey, home
So I say tomorrow
Tomorrow (repeat)
I'm going home
Tomorrow ain't coming
Tomorrow will always where it was
Tomorrow (repeat)
I need to go home
Maybe I could start all over at home
Without the whispers

Hanging on me
Pulling on me, rolling with me
Pulling on me

Yes, I'd like to go home
Without the whispers

Kick it, quit it (x4) home
Told him, kick it, quit it (x3), can't go home
I know when they told me, kick it, quit it (x3), can't go home
Feeling so much worse now, kick it, quit it (x3), gotta go home
Yeah, my friends say "stop"
Told myself a 100 times I'm going stop
Yeah, my friends say "quit it"
They don't know how many times I've said I gotta quit it
Then I say "tomorrow" (x14) hey, I'm going to stop
Yes, in the morning I'm gonna go home
Need a little bit of love in the morning, love in the morning
Somebody help me get over this thing
Got to go home
Feel like I could start all over at home
Make myself a brand new life at home
First I gotta face them down, say "kick it, quit it" (x4) home
Yeah, I'm gonna say "kick it, quit it" (x2) get back home
Yeah, I hear 'em say "kick it, quit it" (x2) can't get home
Always on my mind say "kick it, quit it" (x2) can't go home

Junkie walking through the twilight, I'm on my way home
I left three days ago, no one seems to know I'm gone
Home is where the hatred is, and home is filled with pain
But it might not be such a bad idea if I never, never went home again

Home is where I live inside my white powder dream
Home was once an empty vacuum but it's filled now with my silent scream
Home is where the needle marks try to heal my broken heart
But it might not be such a bad idea if I never, never went home again

Stand as far away from me as you can and ask me why
Hang on to your rosary beads, close your eyes and watch me die
You keep saying, kick it, quit it, kick it, quit it
God, but did you ever try
And turn your sick soul inside out
So that the world, so that the world
Can watch you die (x3), say...

Home is where I live inside my white powder dream
Home was once an empty vacuum but it's filled now with my silent scream
Home is where the needle marks try to heal my broken heart
But it might not be such a bad idea if I never, never went home again

Don't you know I might never go home, never go home
Make all these plans and keep packing my bags
Not go, hey, not go
Keep saying... Tomorrow
First thing tomorrow
Tomorrow I'll go
Know it all the time, I'm just biding time

Say, kick it, quit it

I might never go home, never go home
Pack all my bags and keep standing around
And down
And say I'm running and running
But I can't get away
Everybody ain't that strong, ain't that strong
Go too long, feel yourself crash

kick it, quit it
can't go home
holding onto something
kick it, quit it
can't go home

yes, you'd like to go home
mamma could change it, daddy could fix it, yes, if you could go home
mama don't need to see me this way, know me this way and touch me this way
love me this way, can't go .. home
say it to myself...
kick it, quit it
can't go home
I feel it in my soul
kick it, quit it
can't go home
yes, yes, saying, saying
kick it, quit it
can't go home
yes, but I know, but I know, but I...
can't go home
yes, I'd like to go home, can't go home
I could start all over
Like to go home
Say yeah, like to go home

Back when Eisenhower was the President,
Golf courses was where most of his time was spent.
So I never really listened to what the President said,
Because in general I believed that the General was politically dead.
But he always seemed to know when the muscles were about to be flexed,
Because I remember him saying something, mumbling something about a Military Industrial Complex.
Americans no longer fight to keep their shores safe,
Just to keep the jobs going in the arms making workplace.
Then they pretend to be gripped by some sort of political reflex,
But all they're doing is paying dues to the Military Industrial Complex.
The Military and the Monetary,
The Military and the Monetary,
The Military and the Monetary.
The Military and the Monetary,
get together whenever they think its necessary,
They turn our brothers and sisters into mercenaries, they are turning the planet into a cemetery.
The Military and the Monetary, use the media as intermediaries,
they are determined to keep the citizens secondary, they make so many decisions that are arbitrary.
We're marching behind a commander in chief,
who is standing under a spotlight shaking like a leaf.
but the ship of state had landed on an economic reef,
so we knew he was going to bring us messages of grief.
The Military and the Monetary,
were shielded by January and went storming into February,
Brought us pot bellied generals as luminaries,
two weeks ago I hadn't heard of the son of a bitch,
now all of a sudden he's legendary.
They took the honour from the honourary,
they took the dignity from the dignitaries,
they took the secrets from the secretary,
but they left the bitch an obituary.
The Military and the Monetary,
from thousands of miles away in a Saudi Arabian sanctuary,
had us all scrambling for our dictionaries,
cause we couldn't understand the fuckin vocabulary.
Yeah, there was some smart bombs,
but there was some dumb ones as well,
scared the hell out of CNN in that Baghdad hotel.
The Military and the Monetary,
they get together whenever they think its necessary,
War in the desert sometimes sure is scary,
but they beamed out the war to all their subsidiaries.
Tried to make So Damn Insane a worthy adversary,
keeping the citizens secondary,
scaring old folks into coronaries.
The Military and the Monetary,
from thousands of miles in a Saudi Arabian sanctuary,
kept us all wondering if all of this was really truely, necessary.
We've got to work for Peace,
Peace ain't coming this way.
If we only work for Peace,
If everyone believed in Peace the way they say they do,
we'd have Peace.
The only thing wrong with Peace,
is that you can't make no money from it.
The Military and the Monetary,
they get together whenever they think its necessary,
they've turned our brothers and sisters into mercenaries,
they are turning the planet, into a cemetery.
Got to work for Peace,
Peace ain't coming this way.
We should not allow ourselves to be mislead,
by talk of entering a time of Peace,
Peace is not the absence of war,
it is the absence of the rules of war and the threats of war and the preparation for war.
Peace is not the absence of war,
it is the time when we will all bring ourselves closer to each other,
closer to building a structure that is unique within ourselves
because we have finally come to Peace within ourselves.
The Military and the Monetary,
The Military and the Monetary,
The Military and the Monetary.
Get together whenever they think its necessary,
they've turned our brothers and sisters into mercenaries,
they are turning parts of the planet, into a cemetery.
The Military and the Monetary,
The Military and the Monetary,
We hounded the Ayatollah religiously,
Bombed Libya and killed Quadafi's son hideously.
We turned our back on our allies the Panamanians,
and saw Ollie North selling guns to the Iranians.
Watched Gorbachev slaughtering Lithuanians,
We better warn the Amish,
they may bomb the Pennsylvanians.
The Military and the Monetary,
get together whenever they think its necessary,
they have turned our brothers and sisters into mercenaries,
they are turning the planet, into a cemetery.
I don't want to sound like no late night commercial,
but its a matter of fact that there are thousands of children all over the world
in Asia and Africa and in South America who need our help.
When they start talking about 55 cents a day and 70 cents a day,
I know a lot of folks feel as though that,
thats not really any kind of contribution to make,
but we had to give up a dollar and a half just to get in the subway nowadays.
So this is a song about tommorrow and about how tommorrow can be better. if we all,
"Each one reach one, Each one try to teach one".
Nobody can do everything,
but everybody can do something,
everyone must play a part,
everyone got to go to work, Work for Peace.
Spirit Say Work, Work for Peace
If you believe the things you say, go to work.
If you believe in Peace, time to go to work.
Cant be wavin your head no more, go to work.

Ahh lovely day……

I never really thought of myself as a complex man,
Or as someone who was really that hard to understand.
But it would hardly take a genius to realize
That I've always been a lot too arrogant and a little too f$%kin' wise
That was a combination that made folks feel duty bound,
To do whatever they could to try and shoot me down.
To head off some of the things I might possibly say,
And see if they couldn't take some of my pride away.
To bring me disappointment and teach me to fear it
Obviously these are folks that just didn't have no spirit
Spirits say

[chorus]
Don't give up (spirits say don't give up)
Yes it's time to stop your fallin'
You've been down long enough
Can't you hear the spirits callin'
Yes it's the spirits
Can't you hear iiiiiit
Callin' your name x 2
Yeah talkin' bout spiriiiiiiiiiiits heh

There are people whose lives are so far of the track
That what they like best about life is stabbing' brothers in the back
And I was obviously too blind and probably too weak
To see who was responsible for my losing streak
The best way to explain it is to say simply because
I was looking around outside and the truth is I was
the one. So I got locked into all of the analysis
And found myself locked into a kind of paralysis
And something was calling and I almost didn't hear it
But I spent a lot of time being blessed by the spirits
They keep saying

[Chorus]

I didn't matter if it was a child or and adult
There was absolutely no-one that I could not insult.
So that I could isolate myself somewhere off to the side
And continue to juggle all the possible whys
The warmth I wanted to generate so well
Had turned into a frozen hell
And the discouraging injustices I felt
Had pinned me somewhere inside a drug infested cell
Where those who told didn't know and those who knew didn't tell
And “I could continue to feel sorry for my self” [echo of “”]
And then I heard
[Chorus]

Ain't no way overnight to turn your life around
And this ain't the conversation of someone that never falls back down
But no matter how long you've been on trial
With the days and weeks of self denial
And no matter how many times you've tried to make it
And found out that right then you just couldn't take it
If you are looking for a looser who found strength and success
Remember the spirit of Brother Malcolm X
And know that you can leave all your mistakes behind
The day that you “really make up your mind” [echo of “”]
Come on brother… come on up
Stand on up and say…
[Chorus]