Now and Then

by Gil Scott-Heron

Genres: Poetry

Paperback

Published January 1, 2000

About the author

Gilbert Scott Heron was born in 1949. His mother was a librarian and his father a soccer player from Jamaica. In his youth Heron displayed both sporting prowess and academic ability (he won a place at Pennsylvania Lincoln University, like his role model Langston Hughes, the Harlem Renaissance man). But he quit college after the first year to write his first novel, The Vulture (1970). While Heron was writing this the ferment of black politics and student radicalism was coming to a head, and his second novel The Nigger Factory (1972) reflects these developments.
Heron has been more adventurous in his work as a musician and rapper.

Reviews

[Harrison Wein · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gil Scott-Heron was a poet, writer, and musician whose work in the 1970s was a major influence on rap and hip-hop. Now and Then collects many of his poems and other writings. If you're familiar with him, it's got well-known song/poems like "Pieces of a Man," "Whitey on the Moon," and "The Revolution will not be Televised."

Scott-Heron wrote biting social commentary and had a clever sense of wit. If you're not familiar with him, though, this collection probably isn't the best place to start. His delivery was fantastic, and many of these pieces were meant to be heard. I'd start with the albums Pieces of a Man or Winter in America, collaborations with the musician Brian Jackson. For those who already know Scott-Heron's work, this collection but has many excellent poems, and I discovered several new gems.

[Colleen Mertens · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book collects some of Gil Scott-Heron's songs, poems and other writings. It allows us to learn some of the inspiration behind his songs and glimpse into the political world at times around us. This book is one that will reveal new things every time you read it and it mentioned other books to read that sound interesting.

[Simon Sweetman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great new edition of this classic.

[Paul Gibson · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW - I have most of his poems and lyrics form albums but there was more to the book, including liner notes and several unpublished works.
The book is not a complete collection, so here is the contents list:
Introduction
Words are for the Mind xiii
Spirituals xvii
Coming from a Broken Home 1
The 'Movie' Poems 7
'B' Movie Introduction 8
'B' Movie — The Poem 10
Re-Ron 13
Space Shuttle 17
Whitey on the Moon 21
Black History 22
Dr King 25
A Toast to the People 27
The World 28
Work for Peace 29
What You See Ain't What You Goetz 32
Thought Out 35
Give Her a Call 37
Lady's Song 38
The 'Goldfinger Affair' 39
The Oldest Reason in the World 42
Is that Jazz? 44
Lady Day and John Coltrane 46
Notes from Reflection on Free Will 47
Plastic Pattern People 48
Writer's Note 50
Spirits 51
Inner City Blues 52
Cane 55
We Almost Lost Detroit 56
I Think I'll Call It Morning 58
Lovely Day 58
Beginnings 59
No Knock 60
Billy Green is Dead 61
Winter in America 62
The Bottle 64
When Your Girlfriend has a Better Friend 66
Pieces of a Man 68
Notes from First Minute of a New Day 69
Small Talk at 125th and Lenox 70
Paint it Black 71
Bridging 72
Alien 73
Johannesburg 75
The Vulture 76
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised 77
H2O Gate (Watergate) Blues (with intro) 80
We Beg Your Pardon, America 86
The Ghetto Code 91
Bicentennial Blues 96
Message to the Messengers 102
Speed Kills 106
The New Deal 107
Tuskeegee # 626 109
King Henry IV 110
A Poem for Jose Campos Torres 113
Don't Give Up it 116

Gil often got carried away with conspiracy theories; the most widely debunked theory, the "King Alfred Plan" is not among the collection here. Given his-tory, this is quite understandable and shouldn't distract the reader from the reality he otherwise accurately describes. He once said something to the affect of, If you're not going to say anything in your music, it ought to remain an instrumental.