Marvin Gaye was religious, family, and worldly oriented man. Starting off as just a normal singer, his career soon became much more meaningful. Raised at home with a father that was a preacher, he learned what kind of person he was going to become. This is where his motivation for writing music started and the topics he was choosing. When it came time for What’s Going On, he was bothered by the way his surroundings, friends, and family are going through. Dealing with his brother and other veterans during and after the Vietnam War were some main contributions to this album. Police brutality, Kent State, and other events that should not have taken place became the voice of Marvin Gaye. I would say that a main influence was the stories that his brother told when he got back from the war. He took what his brother saw and lived through and started his controversial album. Motown being his record label and Berry Gordy (founder and brother-in-law) did not want to release this album. Marvin Gaye eventually said that he would not record anymore until they would release it. Breaking away from traditional love songs to a political album was not very well looked upon nor was it expected. Marvin continued and recorded the album with people from the Funk Brothers. He even had a brass session that he got what he wanted for the record when they were just warming up.
Listening to his lyrics is really meaningful. I can tell what point he is getting across and what he is feeling too. Creating albums with full stories behind them are the best albums. Being able to stand up for what you believe is a trait that not many people have. There is instrumentation that was done on this album that I question, but for Marvin it works out really well. This album proved that it does not have to be a regular tune, but as long as there is meaning behind something, people will get it because they understand.
References:
Edmond, B. (2001, December 8). What's Going On by Ben Edmonds | Books | guardian.co.uk . Latest news, comment and reviews from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk . Retrieved March 13, 2011, from http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2001/dec/08/extract
Edmonds, B. (2001, December 8). What's Going On by Ben Edmonds: part two | Books | guardian.co.uk . Latest news, comment and reviews from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk . Retrieved March 13, 2011, from http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2001/dec/08/extract1
Marvin Gaye - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (n.d.). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved March 13, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Gaye
Moss, C. (2009, January 29). What's Going On: Marvin Gaye's Liberation from the Motown Sound _uacct = "UA-286897-1"; urchinTracker(); var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-286897-1']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = docum. PopMatters. Retrieved March 13, 2011, from http://www.popmatters.com/pm/feature/69381-whats-going-on-marvin-gayes-liberation-from-the-motown-sound/
Perrone, P. (2009, September 12). David Van DePitte: Arranger of Marvin Gaye's epochal album 'What's Going On' - Obituaries, News - The Independent. The Independent | News | UK and Worldwide News | Newspaper. Retrieved March 13, 2011, from http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/david-van-depitte-arranger-of-marvin-gayes-epochal-album-whats-going-on-1786174.html
