The Timeless Poetry of Song

Posted on April 9, 2021 Updated on April 9, 2021

We all have a song that when we hear the first notes, we either jump to the dance floor, or (if there’s no dance floor available) our eyes close, our pulse calms or races. Or we turn up the radio and dance in the kitchen because we recognize it like a long-lost lover who still tickles our fancy and sings poetry to our soul. Or maybe that’s just me ….

For me, that song that makes time stand still was, is and always will be, Marvin Marvin’s What’s Going On. This was a song of my youth. His questions and yearnings were mine and (I believed then) belonged to our generation. Sadly, it is still a relevant requiem to a blind world.

Marvin Gaye wrote, fought for, and performed his now legendary song, What’s Going On, as a protest song. He was warned by Motown to not address social issues in his music. And every other music professional told him that he might ruin his career by doing such a song. Thankfully (for all of us) he persisted, because to Marvin it was personal.

1970 was a difficult, and emotional time for Marvin. His brother Frankie returned from Vietnam with teary-eyed tales of horror that moved Marvin to want to act. And in the spring, his much-loved duet collaborator Tammi Terrell died after struggling with a brain tumor.

While he was contemplating his loss and how to move forward, a song dropped into his lap that presented a conduit for all his sorrow and frustration.

Originally, the concept for What’s Going On came from Obie Benson, of the Four Tops, when he was in San Francisco in 1969. Marvin added the emotive lyrics, some ghetto spice, his sorrow, and pain born of his recent experiences and his concern for the war and the world, culminating in a poignant ode to his times.

Marvin continued to run into roadblocks trying to get his song to the airwaves, being turned down by all the singers and bands he knew because they didn’t want to take the risk with such a song. Finally, he had to sing it himself. Again, lucky us.

Marvin once said, “To be truly righteous, you offer love with a pure heart, without regard for what you’ll get in return. I had myself in that frame of mind. People were confused and needed reassurance. God was offering that reassurance through his music. I was privileged to be the instrument.”

I think of his words as poetry, and since it’s Marvin’s birthday month and poetry month, I offer them up. And please give his song a listen on You Tube.

What song tickles your spirit? Share it with me.

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, yeah 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)
What’s going on (What’s going on)
What’s going on (What’s going on)
What’s going on (What’s going on)Right on, baby
Right on, baby
Right on 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 Picket lines and picket signs
Don’t punish me with brutality
Come on talk to me
So you can see
What’s going on (What’s going on)
Yeah, what’s going on (What’s going on)
Tell me what’s going on (What’s going on)
I’ll tell you, what’s going on (What’s going on) Right on, baby, right on
Right on, baby
Right on, baby, right on

Songwriters: Gaye Marvin P / Benson Renaldo Obie / Cleveland Alfred W

Ode to #Marvingaye

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