Gil Scott Heron’s Pieces of a Man tackled the issues of 1970s America in a way that only he could. At a time where problems like political scandal, crippling debt, and racial oppression/tension threatened to break society, it was difficult to stay solid for a man under pressure. Yet there weren’t too many musical outlets that tackled the issues and put them into perspective. As a natural poet, Gil wanted to change that (and in the process unintentionally spawn a creative movement out of it). However, he brought the issues to the forefront through the unique lenses of a black man living in New York City. The city not only produced its own set of niche issues, but seemingly amplified the problems already found throughout American society. The condensed filter of the city constantly tested the wills of many men, Gil included. Yet a common theme surrounding the album is the fact that it is often misunderstood, being cited as the start of a pro-black war-cry of sorts by society. Because of that attribution, much of its message is lost throughout musical history. In order to truly understand what Gil was trying to say through the album, one must observe 1970s America as well as 1970s New York to discover just what kind of insight he was bringing to the table.
The American economy proved to be the root of many of the nations problems, as a faulty foundation led to unease throughout society. Inflation, which had steadily increased over the years following the great depression, exploded in to the double digits around the start of the 1970s. This occurred while unemployment simultaneously increased to double digits as well. This phenomenon is known as stagflation. As one can imagine, economic issues hit the cities of the United States the hardest, as they depended on that constant flow of business in order to continue functioning. Detroit lost almost 40% of its industrial jobs in the 1970s alone. With economic disparity came a sharp increase in crimes throughout the nation. “Statistics from 1974 showed that since 1960, overall crime rates soared higher than ever before—robberies increased 255%, forcible rape 143%, aggravated assault 153%, and murder 106%” . As cities starting becoming more and more dangerous, those who could afford to chose to leave. Namely, white middle-class Americans. Cities were no longer the premiere location to raise a family, start a business, or attempt to aid as a politician. As one could expect, this did not positively impact the racial tension between whites and Blacks/Hispanics of lower economic standing. Whites would flock to the suburbs in a movement known as the “Great Suburban Migration” in order to get away from the perceived source of the influx of crime, causing further unrest and imbalance. As suburbs became more profitable with a new influx of consumers entering the market, investors left their collapsing cities in order to seek profit elsewhere. Politicians joined in the movement as well, writing cities off as lost causes. Not that their help was particularly expected (or trusted) at the time. In fact, the 1970s contained some of the most controversial times for American politics in its entire history. The U. S’s participation in the Vietnam War was met with a lot of resistance, due to both native unpopularity and a much more difficult battle than they bargained for. Events such as the Tet Offensive and the Kent State shootings put Richard Nixon in quite a lot of trouble. These events were also accompanied by the publication of the first set of Pentagon Papers which revealed the truth about the state of the war to the public, who were rightfully outraged. An unstable ceasefire wasn’t established until 1973, 8 years after the war had begun . However, that event was seemingly eclipsed by the controversy of the Watergate scandal, which would grip America during the tail-end of the war in 1972. Ever since the event, there has always been a lingering doubt about the government that is seen strongly even today.
New York, as probably the most prominent city of this time, experienced these issues to a degree that was unfortunately unique. The general decline of the urban economy devastated New York in a way that was unparalleled. In a matter of a couple years, its population dropped from 7.8 million to almost 7 million. The population that could afford to leave were those with the means to do so, dropping New York’s capital by an unprecedented amount. The people left behind were mainly poor people of black or Latino backgrounds. They desperately needed federal assistance and regulation, yet they were seemingly met with opposition from the very people in charge of the country. The “silent majority” (white middle class) that elected Nixon into office did so because they felt certain systems put in to place (such as welfare and the attempted desegregation of schools) were pandering to those that, quite frankly, they grew tired of. At a time where these systems could have kept the city from completely collapsing, it only served to further the extreme gap between the wealthy and those who could barely scrape by. The tradition would be kept on through president Gerald Ford and the infamous Daily News headline “Ford to City: Drop Dead “. In direct opposition to New York, he stated that he would deny any type of federal bailout of the city, essentially leaving it to rot. And so it did. As the population of minorities grew, no money was being placed into urban development and the housing that did remain was literally falling apart. The South Bronx specifically was probably the most extreme case of poverty within the United States during the 1970s. A borough seemingly always on fire, littered with buildings long abandoned and ready to collapse. Even the times square that we know today was a squatter’s town lined with boarded up buildings and prostitutes/drug dealers openly advertising. For those that had to live through the daily trials and tribulations, it was a struggle to resist succumbing to the city and its enriched problems. Those who did succumb generally went two ways. Drugs or crime. Both of which were rampant across the city and ruined the lives of its victims. A hotspot for both could be found underground, in the subways that are now considered vital to the functioning of the city. They were so dangerous and out of control that they sparked the start of multiple controversial vigilante groups, most notably the Guardian Angels.
New York was not the destination of choice in the 70s, and that is being generous. Gil experienced both America’s overarching issues and the unforgiving nature of the City first hand, and in an effort to cope created Pieces of a Man in order to address said issues. Each song tackles these issues in one way or another, often told as a story in order to make it musically inclined. The title-track “Pieces of a Man” does an exceptional job of painting a tragic picture of a man (in this case, his own father) breaking into pieces under the stress. The song talks about his father learning of his firing from the mailman. “Now don’t you take this letter to heart now Jimmy. Cause they’ve laid off nine others today – He could hardly understand That he was only talking to Pieces of a man”. At a time where the city was losing many of its jobs due to lack of investment, people lived in a constant fear of losing their job as it was very difficult to acquire one at the time. Like many others, Gil’s father buckled under the pressure of having to provide for his family and resorted to criminal means in order to make ends meet. He was forced in to a lose/lose situation, and he suffered the consequences. “And now I hear the sound of sirens Come knifing through the gloom – They could hardly understand That they’re only arresting Pieces of a Man”. Gil used his father as an example of the phenomena that was occurring all across New York City. Unfortunately for him, the saying “like father, like son” would prove all to real in the future.
Sources
Flood, Joe. Why the Bronx Burned. May 16, 2010. http://nypost.com/2010/05/16/why-the-bronx-burned/ (accessed May 07, 2016).
Nosnitsky, Andrew. Gil Scott-Heron: More Than A Revolution. January 17, 2012. http://pitchfork.com/features/article/8755-gil-scott-heron/ (accessed May 07, 2016).
Roberts, Sam. Infamous ‘Drop Dead’ Was Never Said By Ford. December 26, 2006. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/28/nyregion/28veto.html?_r=0 (accessed May 07, 2016).
