By The cover art can be obtained from Flying Dutchman., Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17332071
Gil-Scott Heron is a name that you may or may not have heard, but should know. If not for his music itself, his name should be known for his immeasurable contribution to music today. Commonly known as the “godfather of rap”, he was not only a phenomenal musician, but a talented writer and poet as well.
The task of confining his work to any sort of description is a daunting one, and one he seemingly tackled successfully.
If I had to define myself, and people often ask me what it is that I do, I would have to say that I am a bluesologist. This is a scientist concerned with the origins of the blues. You know it’s a science soon as you see the “ology” on the end of it.
His vaguely specific description of himself mixed in with his trademark playful humour is the perfectly encapsulates what he was.
Many of his songs have hooked into my mind like burs and haven’t let go, but one in particular is special. This song, called Pieces of a Man, off his album of the same name, demonstrates an aspect of music in general that I love. Gil’s writing with this song is deceivingly simple, leaving much of the meaning to lay between the lines.
I will break down the song and provide you with my interpretation. I don’t know if my interpretation is correct, but to hell with correct and incorrect; this is Pieces of a Man as I know it.
Have a listen to the song yourself before continuing. I will display the lyrics, and then provide my interpretation.
Pieces of a Man
Jagged jigsaw pieces
Were tossed about the room
I saw my grandma sweeping
With her old straw broom
But she didn’t know what she was doing
She could hardly understand
That she was really sweeping up
Pieces of a man
I saw my daddy meet the mailman
And I heard the mailman say
“Now don’t you take this letter too hard now Jimmy,
As they’ve laid off nine others today”
But he didn’t know what he was saying
He could hardly understand
That he was really talking to
Pieces of a man
I saw the thunder, and heard the lightning
And felt the burden of his shame
And for some unknown reason
He never turned my way
Pieces of that letter
Were tossed about the room
And now I hear the sound of sirens
Come knifing through the gloom
But they don’t know what they are doing
They can hardly understand
That they’re only arresting
Pieces of a man
I saw him go to pieces
I saw him go to pieces
I saw him go to pieces
He was always such a good man
He was always such a strong, strong man
Yeah, I saw him go to pieces
I saw him go to pieces
At first listen, one could be fooled by its simplicity. The song presents the story of a child witnessing his father losing his job, leading him to lash out violently in an uncharacteristic way, resulting in his arrest. However, if one digs a little deeper, one begins to unearth a much deeper story.
Jagged jigsaw pieces Were tossed about the room
I saw my grandma sweeping
With her old straw broom
But she didn’t know what she was doing
She could hardly understand
That she was really sweeping up
Pieces of a man
The song begins by placing the listener in the shoes of a little child in his house, alongside his granny and his father. The first portion of the song is largely just setting the scene, painting the pciture through the details.
I saw my daddy meet the mailman And I heard the mailman say
“Now don’t you take this letter too hard now Jimmy,
As they’ve laid off nine others today”
But he didn’t know what he was saying
He could hardly understand
That he was really talking to
Pieces of a man
The father is being laid off and finds out from the mailman. This is where the father breaks, and “goes to pieces”.
I saw the thunder, and heard the lightning And felt the burden of his shame
And for some unknown reason
He never turned my way
Pieces of that letter
Were tossed about the room
And now I hear the sound of sirens
Come knifing through the gloom
But they don’t know what they are doing
They can hardly understand
That they’re only arresting
Pieces of a man
The beginning of the third part, when he says “I saw the thunder and heard the lightning” refers to the father lashing out in, what we can only assume, a violent way. However, this line represents much more. Thunder is the sound of the storm, while lightning is the actual visual part of the storm. Therefore, it would be impossible to see thunder and hear lightning. This shows just how impactful this event was to the child and how deeply he felt it, so much so that it was beyond his senses.
And for some unknown reason, he never turned my way
This line is deceivingly trivial. Why exactly would he need to turn to his son in this scenario? He doesn’t. But the child wants him to. The child, at this moment of complete chaos and utter uncertainty, is looking to his father to turn to him and provide him with some sort of comfort and security, but recieves none.
Pieces of that letter Were tossed about the room
And now I hear the sound of sirens
Come knifing through the gloom
But they don’t know what they are doing
They can hardly understand
That they’re only arresting
Pieces of a man
This portion is quite significant. Gil moves from the past tense, as he had been using the entire song, to the present tense. This is what makes this song beautiful to me. At this point, the assumingly adult narrator that is retelling this story of his childhood is feeling these feelings so strongly during the retelling that he actually places himself back into the shoes of his child self. His past becomes his present.
I saw him go to pieces I saw him go to pieces
I saw him go to pieces
He was always such a good man
He was always such a strong, strong man
Yeah, I saw him go to pieces
I saw him go to pieces
Then, he cuts back to his true present self. This haunting echoing of “I saw him go to pieces” is done as if he, even as a fully grown adult, cannot believe what happened, even as he tells himself it did indeed happen. Even though it had happened so long ago, he still cannot come to terms with the fact it happened.
Gil has many songs that I absolutely adore, plenty of them I enjoy more than this specific one, but again, there’s something special about this one. Looking a little deeper into his simple words takes the song about a child having his home fall apart in front of him, to being about a traumatized adult looking back on the vital moment in his life that broke the one he looked up to, leaving the child scared and vulnerable to the harsh reality of his world that he was lovingly shielded from.