30 Years Later

Jan 14, 2004 outsideNewsShare/Save

A rat done bit my sister Nell. (with Whitey on the moon) Her face and arms began to swell. (and Whitey’s on the moon) I can’t pay no doctor bill. (but Whitey’s on the moon) Ten years from now I’ll be payin’ still. (while Whitey’s on the moon) The man jus’ upped my rent las’ night. (’cause Whitey’s on the moon) No hot water, no toilets, no lights. (but Whitey’s on the moon) I wonder why he’s uppi’ me? (’cause Whitey’s on the moon?) I wuz already payin’ ‘im fifty a week. (with Whitey on the moon) Taxes takin’ my whole damn check, Junkies makin’ me a nervous wreck, The price of food is goin’ up, An’ as if all that shit wuzn’t enough: A rat done bit my sister Nell. (with Whitey on the moon) Her face an’ arm began to swell. (but Whitey’s on the moon) Was all that money I made las’ year (for Whitey on the moon?) How come i ain’t got no money here? (Hmm! Whitey’s on the moon) Y’know I jus’ ’bout had my fill (of Whitey on the moon) I think I’ll sen’ these doctor bills, Airmail special (to Whitey on the moon)

From Gil-Scott Heron’s The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, 1974. (audio)

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 14th, 2004 at 11:11 pm and is filed under outsideNews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. Share/Save

3 Responses to “30 Years Later”

  1. DanG Says:

    January 15th, 2004 at 2:08 pm

    I presume this is meant to be a statement on all this Mars talk coming from Bush. We do need to got Mars someday, and we might as well get started now before the asteroid hits. People seem to have the notion that every $1 we spend on space is $1 less we spend on health or education, but I dont think government spending actually works that way. Anyway, the best way to cure the world’s problems would just be to colonize Mars and start from scratch.


  2. echillri Says:

    January 15th, 2004 at 4:43 pm

    Bruce Sterling makes an excellent point about the settlement of Mars. There’s plenty of zany things to explore right down here on planet Earth.


  3. Arthur Says:

    January 17th, 2004 at 9:08 pm

    You don’t think government spending works that way? How else could it possibly work? Money, abstract as it is, is still totally quantifiable – if you spend it one thing, you have less money to spend on another. This article on CNN also talks about how budgets for space exploration are notoriously underestimated, because we don’t know what the hell we’re doing.

    I guess my real problem here is that this whole thing is so clearly an election year tactic. The truth is we don’t really need to get to Mars anytime soon. We have more than enough resources on our own planet to feed, house, and clothe everybody properly – we just don’t do it right. Mars, on the other hand, has none of those things. Just rocks. Maybe Spirit will find some more information in the coming months, but making an announcement like this in the wake of the initial awe inspired by those landscape photos is such typical Bush propaganda bullshit.