"What's Going On" is a song by American recording artist Marvin Gaye, released in 1971 on the Motown subsidiary, Tamla. Originally inspired by a police brutality incident witnessed by Renaldo "Obie" Benson, the song was composed by Benson, Al Cleveland and Gaye and produced by Gaye himself. The song, which focused on major seventh and minor seventh chords,[2] and was oriented in sounds byjazz, gospel and classical music orchestration, was mainly viewed as a meditation on the troubles and problems of the world, proving to be a timely and relatable release, and marked Gaye's departure from the Motown Sound towards more personal material. Later topping the Hot Soul Singles chart for five weeks and crossing over to number-two on the Billboard Hot 100, it would sell over two million copies, becoming Gaye's second most successful Motown song to date.[3]
The song topped Detroit's Metro Times list of the 100 Greatest Detroit Songs of All Time,[4] and in 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked it the fourth greatest song of all time, in its updated 2011 list, the song remained at that position.[5] It is also included in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll list, along with two other songs by the singer.[6] It was also listed at number fourteen on VH-1's 100 Greatest Rock Songs" wikimusic
This is a song I love and still enjoy listening to. When Marvin created this song, you could hear the emotion in his voice that was coming off from what was happening during that time, I felt it relevant to today because even 30 years later, we are still experiencing the same issues, and I one day hope that things will change for the sake of our kids and our future in America.
i am surprised i never heard this song before!! thank you for educating me! loved it!
ReplyDeleteWow! Marvin Gaye, I always loved his music. It was relaxing and romantic. It reminds me of when I was a young woman and his songs were always playing on the radio and in the clubs. Nice...
ReplyDeleteHis songs still do play on the radio- 94.5FM. When i seen your post, i started singing the song before i even pressed play :)
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