When R&B artist Marvin Gaye recorded his 11th album, U.S. anti-communist efforts in Vietnam were nearing their 16th year. Almost 13,500 people were arrested during the May Day protests in Washington, D.C., and the Pentagon Papers, published by the New York Times, sowed incorrigible doubt in the U.S. mission in Vietnam.
It was a short album, originally having only nine songs. But those nine songs combined soulful instrumentals and poignant lyrics to provide a musical commentary on the waning welfare of the American public. In short, Gaye was able to get the country thinking about one simple, but problematic question that would eventually become the title of the album itself, “What’s Going On?”
What’s amazing is just how relevant Gaye’s question still is today.
This year marks the 40th anniversary of the release of Gaye’s album . Subsequently, today also marks the 27th anniversary of his death at the hands of his father Marvin Gaye Sr. on April 1, 1984.
Tragic as his passing was, during his lifetime, Gaye was able to stir a political consciousness in his listeners. Bringing a sense of reality to the issues of drug use, poverty, unjustifiable war, inflation, frustration and corruption to the forefront, Gaye’s music engaged people in a way that the government couldn’t.
Forty years later, that engagement is apparent on our own campus from fundraisers collecting aid to send to those affected by the tragedies in Japan and Haiti, to increased debate on the effects of guns in schools.
The political ambiguity of the Middle East today touches on the same frustrations Gaye had with American involvement in Vietnam. Gaye’s harmonic reply to the conflict might be: “Father, father/We don’t need to escalate/You see, war is not the answer/For only love can conquer hate.”
When I hear more on the global effects of the economic crisis, I am reminded of the inflation of 1971 that led Nixon to enact price control to regain some sort of control. Gaye would sing: “Inflation no chance/To increase finance/Bills pile up sky high/Send that boy off to die/Make me wanna holler/The way they do my life.”
And when reminded of the extreme poverty that threatens the lives of millions worldwide, I’m reminded of Gaye’s sadness: “When I look at the world it fills me with sorrow/Little children today are really gonna suffer tomorrow/Oh what a shame, such a bad way to live/All who is to blame, we can’t stop livin’.”
But beyond Gaye’s soulful musicianship is a commentary on the dysfunction of American society. The deeper into the album, the greater the image of human suffering becomes. The rice fields of Vietnam become more vivid. The social and economic misfortunes of the American poor become shameful. Each verse captivates the listener not just through sound but through thought.
