One glance at Now & Then & it becomes evident that this is not merely a collection of a songwriter's lyrics The song-poems of this undisputed "bluesologist" triumphantly stand on their own evoking the rhythm & urgency which have distinguished Gil Scott-Heron's career This the first ever collection of his poems to be published in Britain carries the reader from the global topics of political hypocrisy & the dangers posed by capitalist culture to painfully personal themes & the realities of modern day life His message is black political historically accurate urgent uncompromising & mature & as relevant now as it was when he started back in the early seventies