"Winter in America" is a Cold Rendering of Our Current Quandary
Gil Scott-Heron spoke poetry fused with soul and jazz to document the American condition
I missed the Rap and Hip-Hop Revolution for two reasons. First, I’m over 60, so I wasn’t in the target market. Second, I’ve lived overseas since 1992, so I was out of mainstream access when it started.
Of course I know Tupac and NWA by name and reputation. But I didn’t get into the music wholeheartedly because the digital world was in its infancy. My ears didn’t catch those beats, other than via movies and music videos. Today, I’m still not up to speed on the genre, but I understand its street roots and its cultural messages.
Gil Scott-Heron taught me the drill in the 1970s. He was a rapper for my generation.
Here are a few selections to illustrate the lyric quality of his songs:
For me, three things stand out as the essence of any Gil Scott-Heron song: mood, message and musical quality. As a novice songwriter, I marvel at the poetry and hard-hitting scenes depicting the reality of life in America. His lyrics cut to the core.
His artistry as a musician and his mood-setting arrangements are just beyond comparison. They are an instrumental odyssey on its own. So when you hear the full combo of music, mood and message, it takes you to another place that is very genuine.
Winter in America is a compact kaleidoscope of the nation’s disorder. It takes the country from its early beginnings to expand westward and extract its resources - buffalo, forests - to harm ecosystems and those people who are healers, not destroyers.
In a prescient epilogue, the song describes our current dilemma to deal with Covid-19, war in the Ukraine, inflation and rising energy costs, upward mobility stagnation, police reform, climate change policy, military imperialism, health care costs and the ever present racism-white supremacy conflict.
And ain't nobody fighting Cause nobody knows what to save
How the hell do you sort out all the above issues and figure out what’s a priority? Which cause do you put your limited energy into? What is the government really doing about it? Which politician can I support?
No doubt, the world is more of a mess than a single person can handle. I try to break it down to a more simpler format. There are only two types of people, organizations or governments to consider: extractors and healers.
I worked in the rainforest. I equate things with either healthy ecosystems (e.g. biodiversity, niche habitats) or harmful extractions (e.g. overharvesting, forest fragmentation). I apply this dichotomy to everything.
The planet is in a worldwide extraction phase. Globalization was just a catalyst to expedite the extraction process. The pandemic was a good excuse to keep us all in lockdown, while bankers and plutocrats ramped up the mechanisms to exploit and mine the remaining riches.
Healers are powerful, but they do not have the reach of the richest of the world. They are also too busy practicing what they preach.
So it is up to the individual to decide on who is an extractor versus who is a healer. If you start to apply this simple logic, then you might come up with some unexpected answers.
It’s amazing how one song from your past can linger for a lifetime and still provide wisdom for the prevailing problems of the moment.
Gil Scott-Heron is not the first musical artist people usually think of when defining the cultural legacy of Rap, but for some of us, his brilliance shines brighter than ever.
From the Indians who welcomed the pilgrims And to the buffalo who once ruled the plains Like the vultures circling beneath the dark clouds Looking for the rain Looking for the rain Just like the cities staggered on the coastline Living in a nation that just can't stand much more Like the forest buried beneath the highway Never had a chance to grow Never had a chance to grow And now it's winter Winter in America Yes and all of the healers have been killed Or sent away, yeah But the people know, the people know It's winter Winter in America And ain't nobody fighting Cause nobody knows what to say Save your soul, Lord knows From Winter in America The Constitution A noble piece of paper With free society Struggled but it died in vain And now Democracy is ragtime on the corner Hoping for some rain Looks like it's hoping Hoping for some rain And I see the robins Perched in barren treetops Watching last-ditch racists marching across the floor But just like the peace sign that vanished in our dreams Never had a chance to grow Never had a chance to grow And now it's winter It's winter in America And all of the healers have been killed Or been betrayed Yeah, but the people know, people know It's winter, Lord knows It's winter in America And ain't nobody fighting Cause nobody knows what to save Save your souls From Winter in America And now it's winter Winter in America And all of the healers done been killed or sent away Yeah, and the people know, people know It's winter Winter in America And ain't nobody fighting Cause nobody knows what to save And ain't nobody fighting Cause nobody knows, nobody knows And ain't nobody fighting Cause nobody knows what to save
(GSH Image Credit: Adam Turner, CC BY-SA 3.0)
I am still behind on my song outputs, but don’t give up on me just yet. The Scobiphonic will be ‘rockin in no time. I appreciate everyone who takes the time to read and listen.