Marvin Gaye
Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. (2 April 1939 - 1 April 1984) was an American soul and rnb singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist, known as "The Prince of Soul", or "The Prince of Motown." Originally a member of the doo-wop group The Moonglows, he pursued a solo career after the group disbanded and released many successful solo hits including "I Heard It Through the Grapevine", "Let's Get It On" and "What's Going On". His best albums are still held in extremely high regard, and he is often cited as one of the finest singers of his era. Read Full BioMarvin Pentz Gay, Jr. (2 April 1939 - 1 April 1984) was an American soul and rnb singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist, known as "The Prince of Soul", or "The Prince of Motown." Originally a member of the doo-wop group The Moonglows, he pursued a solo career after the group disbanded and released many successful solo hits including "I Heard It Through the Grapevine", "Let's Get It On" and "What's Going On". His best albums are still held in extremely high regard, and he is often cited as one of the finest singers of his era.
Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. was born in 1939 to Marvin Gay, Sr. and Alberta Gay in Washington, D.C.. Gaye began his career in Motown in 1958, and soon became Motown's top solo male artist. He scored numerous hits during the 1960s, among them "Ain't That Peculiar", "Stubborn Kind of Fellow", and "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)", as well as several hit duets with Tammi Terrell, including "Ain't No Mountain High Enough"" and "You're All I Need to Get By", before moving on to his own form of musical self-expression.
Along with Stevie Wonder, Gaye is notable for fighting the hit-making—but creatively restrictive—Motown record-making process, in which performers, songwriters and record producers were generally kept in separate camps. Gaye forced Motown to release his 1971 album What's Going On, which is today hailed as one of the best albums of all time. Subsequent releases proved that Gaye, who had been a part-time songwriter for Motown artists during his early years with the label, could write and produce his own singles without having to rely on the Motown system. This achievement would pave the way for the successes of later self-sufficient singer-songwriter-producers in African American music, such as Luther Vandross and Babyface.
During the 1970s, Gaye would release several other notable albums, including Let's Get It On and I Want You, and released several successful singles such as "Come Get to This", "Got to Give It Up" and "Sexual Healing". By the time of his shooting death in 1984, at the hands of his clergyman father, Gaye had become one of the most influential artists of the soul music era.
Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. was born in 1939 to Marvin Gay, Sr. and Alberta Gay in Washington, D.C.. Gaye began his career in Motown in 1958, and soon became Motown's top solo male artist. He scored numerous hits during the 1960s, among them "Ain't That Peculiar", "Stubborn Kind of Fellow", and "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)", as well as several hit duets with Tammi Terrell, including "Ain't No Mountain High Enough"" and "You're All I Need to Get By", before moving on to his own form of musical self-expression.
Along with Stevie Wonder, Gaye is notable for fighting the hit-making—but creatively restrictive—Motown record-making process, in which performers, songwriters and record producers were generally kept in separate camps. Gaye forced Motown to release his 1971 album What's Going On, which is today hailed as one of the best albums of all time. Subsequent releases proved that Gaye, who had been a part-time songwriter for Motown artists during his early years with the label, could write and produce his own singles without having to rely on the Motown system. This achievement would pave the way for the successes of later self-sufficient singer-songwriter-producers in African American music, such as Luther Vandross and Babyface.
During the 1970s, Gaye would release several other notable albums, including Let's Get It On and I Want You, and released several successful singles such as "Come Get to This", "Got to Give It Up" and "Sexual Healing". By the time of his shooting death in 1984, at the hands of his clergyman father, Gaye had become one of the most influential artists of the soul music era.
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What's Going On
Marvin Gaye 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, eh eh
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, oh oh oh
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
Yeah, what's going on
Ah, what's going on
In the mean time
Right on, baby
Right on brother
Right on babe
Mother, mother, everybody thinks we're wrong
Oh, but who are they to judge us
Simply 'cause our hair is long
Oh, you know we've got to find a way
To bring some understanding here today
Oh oh oh
Picket lines and picket signs
Don't punish me with brutality
C'mon talk to me
So you can see
What's going on
Yeah, what's going on
Tell me what's going on
I'll tell you what's going on, ooh ooh ooh ooh
Right on baby
Right on baby
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Alfred W Cleveland, Marvin P Gaye, Renaldo Benson
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
To comment on specific lyrics, highlight them
Gabriela Sanchez
@John Smith
"We don't need to escalate"
"See war is not the answer for only love can conquer hate"
It is easy for hate from others to spread to each other like a virus. But love is always the cure. Maybe Tom is acting out of the hatred from others misunderstanding him. No matter the reason he said that, accepting each other's differences can allow us to exist in peace.
I could be right or wrong or just talking shit but the point is it doesn't matter if I am. The point is putting ourselves down for just saying things and being human only creates a cycle of anger and resentment with each other. You have to break that chain with understanding and empathy.
That's what I think this song is about
Music Man
"What's Going On"
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 - Ya
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
Yeah, what's going on
Ah, what's going on
In the mean time
Right on, baby
Right on
Right on
Mother, mother, everybody thinks we're wrong
Oh, but who are they to judge us
Simply because our hair is long
Oh, you know we've got to find a way
To bring some understanding here today
Oh
Picket lines and picket signs
Don't punish me with brutality
Talk to me
So you can see
What's going on
Yeah, what's going on
Tell me what's going on
I'll tell you what's going on - Uh
Right on baby
Right on baby
Tameika Brown
Who’s Still Rocking/Jamming & Listening To This Marvin Gaye Song In 2021
Angela Fedun
Old am buff
Just Janie
I miss him ever aso much .
Greg Toves
A bunch of us are!
From Whittier!
Shenna Rice
Me👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
Jimd905
I am. Its timeless. I enjoy playing this song with my band any chance I get.
steven kreisberg
Probably one of the best songs ever written and performed, and is as timeless
Kenni Saun
Berry Gordon had the audacity to stop this song from being a hit
ccali327
@Semen Shestakov It's with good reason. I commented earlier:
You have to understand how important this song was historically. A member of the Four Tops, another legendary Motown group witnessed first hand many of the atrocities of Bloody Thursday in Berkeley California. He asked a friend of his why all of this was happening, and a song was written. However, Motown was doing mostly bubblegum pop, same with Marvin for the most part, and the Four Tops were not going to record the song. They then approached Marvin, who, with a brother in Vietnam, was really bothered and disenchanted with the war and violence against people of color. So, he decided to tweak it a bit and told Berry Gordy he wanted to record a protest song.. It was an era where black people tried extra hard not to appear controversial in any sense because of the inevitable racist backlash, so Gordy was very hesitant. Gordy heard the song and didn't like it much, especially the scatting in the middle. After some pressuring, it released, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Semen Shestakov
I know that it's really subjective, but rolling stone magazine ranked this song 4th best of all time.