For
Marvin Gaye, “What’s Going On” was a statement of his beliefs. Beforehand,
Marvin had the typical Motown track listing, which was of the Soul genre.
Marvin sang songs about his beliefs, but never about something serious, like
war or hunger. The main influence for this song was his brother’s stories while
he was in Vietnam. For Gaye, “Vietnam didn’t become real until somebody close
to him was touched by it. I wrote him a few letters, but it wasn’t till I got
back that it really hit him that I had been over there. ‘Wow, man, you were in
the war.’ Then he wanted to know everything. I cried a lot during our talks.
War is hell, believe me.” When Gaye tried to release the song, he was shot down
by Motown head Berry Gordy for over a year. When Gaye started not coming to the
studio and doing his own projects, Gordy gave in a released the single, taking
the top two spots in 3 charts. Soon after the release of the single, it was
re-released in an album of the name on May 21, 1971. For the first time, a Soul
album addressed issues that were prominent of that time. Issues covered in the
album were war, poverty, taxes, drug abuse, and pollution. This is also the
first time that a Motown record went away from the traditional Motown feel.
This album contains a mixture of funk, classical and Latin.
What’s
Going On shows me that any kind of music can make a statement, and if you want
to sing about something, sing about it. If you lose fan base for singing about
something that has struck you deep in your heart, screw it. It’s a good trade,
standing for what you believe, in exchange for losing fans. Since, it is always
better to be different than to go with the crowd.
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