“What’s Going On” (Marvin Gaye)

You can’t look at the hit songs of 1971 without including that Motown classic, the groundbreaking “What’s Going On” by the legendary Marvin Gaye. “What’s Going On” was the lead track from Mr. Gaye’s 1971 album of the same name; released as a single in January of 1971, it hit #2 on the Billboard Hot 100, #1 on the Cash Box Top 100, and #1 on Billboard’s R&B/Soul Singles chart. It was also nominated for two Grammy Awards and continually ranks as one of the top songs, period, of the modern era.

“What’s Going On” started with an idea that started with an incident. The incident was the “Bloody Thursday” anti-war protest in Berkeley, California, on May 15, 1969. The protest and violent response by the city’s police force were witnessed by the Four Tops, who were in Berkeley for a show. Tops member Obie Benson, working with his friend Al Cleveland, was inspired to turn his questions about the protest and the state of the country in general into a song. He took that song to the Tops but bandmates Levi Stubbs, Duke Fakir, and Lawrence Payton turned it down; they weren’t that interested (at the time) in doing what they viewed as a “protest song.” Obie then took the song to fellow Motown artist Marvin Gaye, who tweaked the lyrics and put his own spin on the thing. The result was a monumental piece of music that rose to the top of the charts and the forefront of the nation’s consciousness.

The words, of course, are what make the song. Obie and Marvin touched a raw nerve by asking the essential question of what’s going on with the unrest and protests of the day. The lyrics touched on young people dying in the Vietnam War, young people protesting the war, the police escalating the situation with their own brutality, and more. The lyrics pleaded, “we’ve got to find a way to bring some lovin’ here today.” It was a plaintive cry that needed to be heard. “War is not the answer, for only love can conquer hate.” That’s a message that echoes through the ages.

Listen to “What’s Going On” and you hear some truly innovative and inspired record making. The groove is established by “Bongo Eddie” Brown’s congas, backed up by Chet Forest’s drumming. The bass line—more of a four-minute bass solo, to be honest—was supplied by the legendary James Jamerson, who played his bass riffs while laying flat on the floor, still drunk from the night before. The soprano sax line was provided by Eli Fontaine, who said he was just “goofing around” but Marvin liked what he heard and put it on tape.

As to Marvin’s dual-tracked vocals, he had actually recorded two somewhat different takes and was trying to decide between them. Engineer Kenneth Sands was switching between the two tracks and accidentally mixed them both together. Again, Marvin liked what he heard and kept the two takes together. The result of all this is what you hear on the record.

Marvin took the finished tapes to Motown boss Berry Gordy, who had recently relocated to California. (Gordy would later move the entire Motown operation to L.A., ending an era.) Gordy allegedly hated the track, calling it “the worst thing I ever heard in my life.” Marvin insisted, however, and Gordy relented. The rest is history.

The song “What’s Going On” inspired Marvin to write and record a whole album of socially conscious songs. They all have a similar feel and were mixed to run into one another, tunes like “Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology),” “Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler),” “Save the Children,” “What’s Happening Brother,” and “Flyin’ High (In the Friendly Sky).” All had similar instrumentation and production, provided as usual by the Funk Brothers. (Although Jamerson only played bass on the title track, “What’s Happening Brother,” “Flyin’ High,” “Save the Children,” and “God Is Love;” Bruce Babbitt ably stepped in for the rest of the album.)

What’s Going On, the resulting album, while well-received at the time, only hit #6 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart—although it did hit #1 on Billboard’s R&B Albums chart. In retrospect, it was one of the most influential albums in music history. Rolling Stone, NME, and The Guardian have all ranked it the #1 album of all time. What’s Going On paved the way for Stevie Wonder to break from the Motown mold and create his own innovative work later in the ’70s, as well as influenced other socially conscious soul from Curtis Mayfield and other artists.

More important, “What’s Going On” the song and What’s Going On the album remain as relevant today as they were fifty years ago. It’s all in the lyrics:

Mother, mother
There’s too many of you crying
Brother, brother, brother
There’s far too many of you dying
You know we’ve got to find a way
To bring some lovin’ here today, yeah

Father, father
We don’t need to escalate
You see, war is not the answer
For only love can conquer hate
You know we’ve got to find a way
To bring some lovin’ here today

Picket lines and picket signs
Don’t punish me with brutality
Talk to me
So you can see
Oh, what’s going on (What’s going on)
What’s going on (What’s going on)
What’s going on (What’s going on)
What’s going on (What’s going on)

Fifty years on, observing today’s combative and chaotic world, I still ask, “what’s going on?”—and I’m still waiting on an answer.