Marvin Gaye's “What's Going On”

Abstract

On 21st of May, 1971, critics raved when Marvin Gaye's “What's Going On” hit the streets. Marvin Gaye was named by Billboard as the “Trendsetter of the Year,” and his album was called by Time as a “vast, melodically deft symphonic pop suite.” Even Jesse Jackson- a Reverend put in, saying, “Marvin is as much a minister as any man in the pulpit.” The album has continued in the decades since, to broaden the expressive and melodic capacity of R&B, inspiring artistes from Stevie Wonder to Lauryn Hill to Kanye West. This paper is sought to get an insight how did critics acclaimed the masterpiece of that time. It is substantiated that Marvin Gaye, as an artist utilized urban soul music for expressing social and individual apprehensions, plus a singer of delicate sensitivity and quixotic elegance, Gaye passed on a legacy that has broadened since his demise, and in American pop, his music has become an enduring fixture.

Table of Contents

Introduction4

Body: Discussion and Analysis5

A Brief Biographic Sketch of Marvin Gaye5

Background of Making of “What's Going On?”7

What the Critics Say about “What's Going On”8

Portrayal of Vietnam War & other Social Issues8

Rap Music10

Rhythm and Blues10

Soul Music12

Conclusion12

References13

Appendix14

Marvin Gaye's “What's Going On”

Only a person could produce an album concerning drugs, poverty, and the Vietnam War sound erotic and soulful. Marvin Gaye was that person and his dream of touching the souls of people changed the music industry forever.

Introduction

The concept album of Marvin Gaye, What's Going On, released in May 1971, expanded the social messages including drug abuse, taxes, race relations, poverty, generational tension, children, environmental pollution, and religion. The political impact of What's Going On (both song and album), in this sense, like “Ball of Confusion,” is disperse, as a single political focus is lacked by the songs and a pervasive anxiety is reflected in America subsequent to the turmoil of the 1960s concerning the trend of the nation and its prospective to restoration to orderliness. This masterpiece of Gaye is not about war, race, environment or the drugs, but regarding all those things, and therefore is not a pointed, single-edged offensive weapon. It is a moralistic rebuke instead of a demands list. “What's Going On,” is a query presented as statement. The multitracked vocals of Gaye leading the way at the time stir up another sophisticated luxe-pop mysticism, additionally improved by the choral sound and lush, flowing and connected string melody. This paper is intended to analyze the Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" that how did critics react to the album at the time and what was the rationale behind their response. (Clague Mark, 2010)

Body: Discussion and Analysis

Marvin Gaye, as a vocalist and songwriter, throughout his tenure at Motown records, spread out the limits of what could be addressed by soul music and how it could go. The 1960s Motown sound was helped define by his prior Motown hits “Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing” (with Tammi Terrell), “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You),” and “Ain't ...