Music / What's Going On

Talk to me, so you can see, what's going on.

What's Going On is the eleventh studio album by Marvin Gaye, released in 1971 through Tamla Records. It's a socially conscious Concept Album with a lot of songs addressing both political and social issues, as well as more general topics such as love.

The album was created as a response to Motown's business practices at the time, in which they only focused on singles sales and completely cut their artists out of the album-creating process; their albums were essentially Greatest Hits after Greatest Hits before Gaye released this album, proving the viability of the album format to the label. Berry Gordy was obsessed with quality control; he tried to veto the release of successful songs like "What's Going On" and "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" because he thought they wouldn't cross over well enough. Gaye and Stevie Wonder both ended up threatening to stop recording unless their demands were met. This album was also the very first to give official credits to the Motown backing band, the Funk Brothers.

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Tracklist:

Side One

1. "What's Going On" (3:53)
2. "What's Happening Brother" (2:43)
3. "Flyin' High (in the Friendly Sky)" (3:49)
4. "Save the Children" (4:03)
5. "God Is Love" (1:41)
6. "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" (3:16)

Side Two

7. "Right On" (7:31)
8. "Wholy Holy" (3:08)
9. "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)" (5:26)

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Inner City Tropes

• Accidental Discovery: The famous self-backing vocals were a result of two separate vocal takes of the title track being mixed together by accident. Gaye liked the effect so much he opted to record the album this way.
• Album Filler: Averted. The album was created out of Gaye's frustration that most albums released by Motown were basically hit singles surrounded by filler.
• Alliterative Title: "Mercy Mercy Me".
  • Zig-Zagged by "Wholy Holy", which is alliterative as spoken/sung but not as written.
• As the Good Book Says...: "Wholy Holy"
  Jesus left a long time ago, said he would return
  He left us a book to believe in
  In it we've got an awful lot to learn
• Bookends: The album's closing track, "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)", ends with a slower piano rendition of lyrics from the title track. Also applies to the first LP side by itself; "Mercy Mercy Me" ends with a reprise of an instrumental segment of the title track as well.
• Concept Album: The album addresses many social issues, such as poverty, the economy, and social injustice, from the perspective of a Vietnam veteran who has just returned home.
• Drunken Master: Funk Brother James Jamerson played the title track's bass parts on his back on the studio floor after turning up too drunk and tired to sit.
• Epic Rocking: "Right On" runs for seven and a half minutes, although all of the songs after the title track could be considered an example as, apart from the fadeout of "What's Going On" and the vinyl side gap, the entire album is gapless. Gaye seems to have intended the songs as movements of a longer suite rather than as individual songs.
• Face on the Cover: Marvin Gaye in close-up.
• Fading into the Next Song/Siamese Twin Songs: Nearly all of the songs lead into one another. The only song that stands on its own is the title track, which fades out entirely. There's also a gap between "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" and "Right On" due to vinyl side limitations, as well as a more subtle gap that makes "Wholy Holy" and "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)" distinct from each other..
• The Future Will Be Better: Gaye makes a plea to do something and save the future of our children.
• God Is Good: "God Is Love".
  God is my friend, Jesus is my friend
  For when we call Him for mercy, Mercy Father
• God-Is-Love Songs: "God Is Love" and "Wholy Holy". In the latter song Gaye sings:
  Wholy holy we believe in one another
  Wholy holy we believe in Jesus
  Jesus left a long time ago, said he would return
  He left us a book to believe in
  In it we've got an awful lot to learn
• Green Aesop: "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" is a Protest Song about environmental degradation. It's not at all subtle, but it doesn't need to be so.
• Last Note Nightmare: "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" ends with a long instrumental section concluding with a haunting chorus, a dissonant horn, and some drumming. At least one station actually cuts it short.
• Lyrical Dissonance: Gaye sings about social problems, but he does it with such a smooth voice and wonderful arrangements that you actually find yourself enjoying listening to what he sings.
• Mood Whiplash: The album's two God-Is-Love Songs are followed up by two of the darkest songs on the album, each going into depth about one of the era's most pressing problems (the environment and poverty, respectively, both of which remain major problems today). The juxtaposition can be looked at as Gaye's way of saying that while faith can be a major source of emotional comfort, we shouldn't allow it to blind us to real-world suffering.
• Ode to Intoxication: "Flyin' High (in the Friendly Sky)" takes this form, although it's not hard to suss out the Drugs Are Bad message.
• The Power of Love: A major theme.
• Protest Song: More like a Protest Album: songs such as "What's Going On", "What's Happening Brother", "Save the Children", "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)", and "Inner City Blues" all address issues like war, poverty, racism and pollution.
• Questioning Title?: "What's Going On" and "What's Happening, Brother", although the official versions of the titles don't actually include the question marks.
• Real Life Writes the Plot/Ripped from the Headlines: Many of the songs address contemporary social issues, and the album was in large part inspired by Gaye's brother's military service in Vietnam and difficulty reintegrating into society after returning home.
• Self-Backing Vocalist: Most notably during "Save the Children".
• Something Blues: "Inner City Blues".
• Spoken Word in Music: The album starts with chattering people. "Save the Children" has a parlando where Gaye talks, backed by his own singing voice.
• Think of the Children!: "Save the Children"
  You see, let's save the children
  Let's save all the children
  Save the babies, save the babies
  If you wanna love, you got to save the babies
  All of the children
• Title Track: "What's Going On".
• War Is Hell: "What's Going On"
  War is not the answer, for only love can conquer hate

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