Analyzation of "What's Going On"

http://moodle.cshgreenwich.org/file.php/95/moddata/data/43/141/530/13-marvin_gaye-whats_going_on_original_single_version_.mp3

“What’s Goin On” is the title song and the first song to be produced of the album. It is 3 minutes and 53 seconds. Most unexpectedly the tract starts off with idle and friendly chatter in the first few seconds of the introduction. “Hey what’s happening, brother”, is one of the more distinct greetings heard. Then another line “It a groovy party, man, I can dig it”. Perhaps to the people in 1971 who were used to Gaye’s lighthearted songs, this is what’s to be expected, but for me knowing it is a social and political commentary, it is disarming. Other light, casual banter is thrown around, and it is the sort of talk that resembles any group gathering of friends and family, excusing the distinct 70s lingo. It almost seems like it is a preamble to what will be a fun lighthearted song. But hearing the following words of the song, the placement of the introduction makes more sense.  It places the listener into an atmosphere they are very familiar with, with no pretense or veneer. Marvin Gaye is not preaching or presenting himself as superior. It seems he is approaching people on a familiar, casual level, that they are all Gaye included familiar with. Now that they are familiarized and introduced, the real message contained in the song lyrics begin is conveyed through Gaye’s vocals. Gaye is singing from first perspective, and the weaved storyline that this perspective is of a war veteran like Gaye’s brother Frankie returning from war could hold true. Whoever it is it is a person simultaneously with a lot of love and therefore grief for the world and its people. The love is showed by the affectionate terms used. For instance the lines “Mother, mother
There's too many of you crying
Brother, brother, brother, There's far too many of you dying” show that the familial terms are used widely and do not just mean actual kin, because it is plural. Instead Gaye’s character is speaking from one person’s perspective but seeming to speak out to all mankind. Because these terms reserved for family are used widely, it shows how Gaye is spreading the reaches of love and care which is usually strongest with family to everyone affected by the current issues of ’71.  Specifically the words strongly parallel the situation of Vietnam War, where young men were being sent out to draft. This war had the highest number of American casualties than any other war, and it was taking its toll on the attitudes of Americans hearing more and more about these atrocities in the media. As a result parents had to bury their children, a very tragic consequence of war. The mother term is also perhaps used to represent the nuance of motherly figure that is sensitive, earthly, and emotional. Therefore Gaye is appealing to his listener’s sensitive side.

The first line in Verse 2 corroborates this Vietnam War focus. It goes “Father, father, We don't need to escalate, You see, war is not the answer, For only love can conquer hate”. The father figure that Gaye’s person is talking to seems to be President Nixon, the president of the time, as the person is asking him to not escalate, meaning to continue on with the war, or create more wars. Not only could he be talking about President Nixon but any body in a position in an authority. Father is especially fitting in this regard because typically people in positions of authority were called the man in that decade by those that were under their rule. Largely, just as men were seen as fitting these authority figures type, fathers were typically accepted as head of household, and this parallels a president’s role as head of the country. So if the person of Gaye’s words was addressing the president as father is very personal. Though Gaye is denouncing war, he is not criticizing the president, but heralding the president for a change in policy from hate to love that seems warm and personal. It reminds me of how I would try and talk to my parent who is being overbearing, and making rash decisions. The person Gaye is speaking for is calm and wise, and in a lot of ways it seems to reflect the type of person he has become in the past few years.

Here is where the beat becomes steady and up-tempo, and in the tune a layer of  what sounds like finger snapping can be heard. For me it was impossible not to snap along. Now in-between lines, it sounds like the backups are repeating sister until the chorus “What’s Going On”. This helps to delineate how much Gaye feels a kinship with the people of the world.

Inside this lead up to the chorus is the address to the police. It comes out of a depiction of “Picket lines and picket signs’s”. These are items seen at protest rallys, and they usually indicate some type of displeasure and opposition with what is going on. In accordance to the song and time period there could be so many things to protest and speak out against such as the war, or inner city poverty, drug prevalence. The first person point of view is now speaking in representation for protestors. This protestor is addressing the police which is exemplified because he asks “Don’t punish me with brutality”. This request is raised due to the occurrences with police brutality in peaceful protests, student protests, and civil right rights sit ins.  The protestor also makes a request to instead “Talk to me”. It isn’t the first time non-violence methods instead of physical actions are taken are suggested. With the subsequent lines “So, you can see, what’s going on””, this talking and conversation that is advocated is one that would discuss controversial matters and social issues that are relevant. But it regards also listening to another person’s perspective on a issue. Both these actions are so important because social and political issues affect us hugely, and continued dialogue and awareness ensured people were not throwing it behind them, labeling it as out of their control. Also just like the protestor beseeching the policeman, if everyone seriously put themselves in another person’s shoes, we’d have a lot less rash head on actions and therefore conflicts.

Now again the person in 1^st person perspective is again addressing the mother figure. Again this could be symbolic of a mother Earth who provides for everyone and listens to everyone’s distress. Who is addressing her sounds like a hippie, or a rebel of society and government. The lines “everybody thinks we're wrong, Oh, but who are they to judge us
Simply because our hair is long”, corroborate this. This is probably the portion of the song where Obie Benson, one of the writers, was influenced by the hippies, as he said he was.

Than the last stanza is a repeat of the chorus: “Picket lines and picket signs…What’s Going On”. This choice to repeat this stanza and the direction of the song lead me to believe that the person in first person point of view could be the character of a peaceful protestor to the war. What is noteworthy is that this person in the last chorus says after “Tell me what’s going on”, that “I’ll tell you what’s going on”. All throughout the song, this person has been conscious and aware. This repeated question of “What’s going on” may not be one that the person in first person needs the answer to. Instead the person says in the chorus “Talk to me, so you can see what’s going on”. This protestor seems to have seen the effects of “What’s Going On” with war in the effects of his/her world in the first stanza, and is peacefully protesting that war in the second stanza. Then in the chorus, the protestor is trying to impede violence and instead trying to spread knowledge and understanding. What is most integral to the message of this song is dialogue about “What’s Going On” continues. This dialogue is conveyed through the echo effect which represents a request for others to ask what’s going on , and then a question of What’s going On. All throughout the song, the strong themes of family and communion show that that this love and care is needed to not only make dialogue work, and people truly listen, but to impact the world and hopefully lessen these issues. In the final chorus how the protestor beseeches brother in the background between every few words, completes the family analogy that was used throughout the song. The message is received, in a way we are all family, and all related, and need to start treating each other as such.