Flow #9

Gil Scott Heron – Shut Um Down

Werner Herzog is quoted to have said: “The poet must not avert his eyes” and this mod/ern/ist poet has continued to tell it like it is regardless of whether Cats and Kittens want to hear it or not…today’s piece was one of a few delivered in response to the 3 Mile Island Nucleur Energy disaster in America in 1979. This cut is borrowed from his ‘1980’ Set…Gil Scott Heron step up and ‘speak’

“Did you feel that rumble? did you hear that sound,
Well It wasn’t no earthquake but it shook the ground,
Made me think about power like it or not,
Got to work for Earth for what it’s worth,
Cause it’s the only Earth we’ve got,

Shut ’em down
if that’s the only way to keep them from melting down,
Shut ’em down
if that’s the only way to keep them from melting down,

I heard a lot about safety and human error,
A few dials and gauges is just a wing and a prayer,
If you need perfection and that’s what it takes,
Then you don’t need people, can’t use people,
You know people make mistakes,

Shut ’em down
if that’s the only way to keep them from melting down,
Shut ’em down
if that’s the only way to keep them from melting down

Did you feel that rumble? did you hear that sound,
Well It wasn’t no earthquake but it shook the ground,
Made me think about power like it or not,
Got to work for Earth for what it’s worth,
Cause it’s the only Earth we’ve got,

Shut ’em down
if that’s the only way to keep them from melting down,
Shut ’em down
if that’s the only way to keep them from melting down..”