Marvin Gaye What's Going On Analysis
“What’s Going On”
I believe protest music is any song that is associated with change or the defiance of a prior principle. It does not matter if the song or genre was written for the purpose of revolution or if the song is a rally cry or only meant to spread awareness, but if the lyrics and the feeling of the song invoke those ideas, it may be considered protest music. Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On” was written about the Vietnam War, but people choose to interpret the song as a cry for civil rights. A song does not need to begin as socially aware to be considered a protest song because it’s about how it’s interpreted by others and used. This allows for songs to be repurposed and reclaimed for any situation.
Marvin Gaye’s album “What’s Going On” was released in 1971 amidst the Vietnam war and the tail end of the Civil Rights movement. Marvin Gaye was a prominent member of the Motown group and this song and album was the first time he truly showcased his own voice and ideas and related it to the issues of the time. The inspiration for the song “What’s Going On” came from Gaye’s brother Frankie returning from the Vietnam War frazzled. Gaye wrote “What’s Going On” from his brother’s
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Soon it became interpreted also as a song about race relations. Walter Ray Watson, a senior producer for NPR News, called the song “a poetic plea for justice and contemplation within black communities” (Katzif). Whether or not Marvin Gaye intended for the song to bestow the meaning of speaking up for civil rights (specifically because I know that the song was inspired by the Vietnam War), that does not distract from the fact that it still is a song for civil rights as the lyrics ask “Oh, but who are they to judge us, simply because our hair is long,” which is perceived to be a dig at people who don’t accept black people and long
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