Not content with being Motown's most popular performer, Marvin Gaye wanted to stake his claim as a serious artist. Producing his own album for the first time, & with the newfound freedom to choose his repertoire, Gaye challenged the label's silence on the social upheaval that was churning in the US, & in particular its effects on Black people. What resulted was one of the most sincere social statements, & one of the most legendary albums, in any of the popular music genres.
The first thing you notice about What's Going On is how smoothly the songs segue into each other. Each side of the album is through-composed as a seamless suite, with consistent instrumentation: percussion-heavy rhythm tracks, ethereal strings & winds, choral backing vocals & Gaye's signature multi-tracked leads. To bring it all full-circle & unite the 2 sides, the opening theme returns at the end of album closer "Inner City Blues."
Side A is especially consistent; it's sometimes hard to know when one song ends & the next begins. While this approach can give an album cohesion, it also runs the risk of monotony. But What's Going On is not without musical diversity: side B is looser & funkier than side A, while within each suite there are subtle touches like the key change at the start of "Mercy Mercy Me," & the insistent, reverb-soaked woodblock that constantly reminds us of drowned forests & the ticking of the clock. "Mercy Mercy Me" is probably the best song on the album (apparently it was Gaye's favorite), & with its dramatic, almost cinematic ending, makes a fine closer for side A of an album where resolutions are few--but this time around it was a different song that captivated me.
The real revelation on this listen was "What's Happening Brother." Musically similar to "What's Going On," & tucked between that hit single & the mood shift of "Flyin' High," it almost seems like "What's Happening Brother" was intended to be overlooked--like the confused veteran at the song's center. In simple, unadorned language, Gaye as the returned war vet asks a series of questions that range from cautious optimism ("Are things really gettin' better, like the newspaper said") to longing for simpler times ("Are they still gettin' down where we used to go and dance") to searching for some kind of normalcy ("Will our ball club win the pennant") to fashion ("Tell me what's out and I want to know what's in"). The overall impression is of a man forced to put his life on pause for something that he really had nothing to do with, returning to a home that looks a lot different since he saw it last, but more because of internal changes than external ones. The narrator of "What's Happening Brother" is desperate for something to hold onto--& wondering if it's the world or himself that's spinning out of control.
Listening to the albums in this series with intention & patience has offered me many moments like this--the opportunity to reappraise something I'm familiar with, to hear it with slightly new ears. That's what great albums do. There are a lot of great albums on this list, & I'm not even a 3rd of the way through!
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