Marvin gaye war is not the answer
50 years after Marvin Gaye asked, 'What's Going On?' America still searching for an answer
- Feb 11, 2007
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By Chris Perry, CNN
Portrait of Marvin Gaye in studio in 1971. (Photo by Gems/Redferns)
"What's Going On: Marvin Gaye's Anthem for the Ages," hosted by Don Lemon, debuts Sunday at 8 p.m. EST on CNN.
(CNN)As a child, artist Devon Gilfillian remembers his father, a professional wedding singer, harmonizing with Marvin Gaye's iconic "What's Going On" album in their living room.
While the groove of the music was palpable, the lyrics were lost on a young Gilfillian.
The haunting questions of the ballad resurfaced to Gilfillian, now 31, accompanying the murder of George Floyd.
In a recent interview for a new CNN documentary about Gaye's perform, titled "What's Going On: Marvin Gaye's Anthem for the Ages," the Grammy-nominated artist and activist recalled rediscovering the album just before heading to a protest in Nashville last summer.
"I sa
Lyrics of What's Going On by Marvin Gaye
Happy New Year. I aspire you all had a break filled with care for and rest for this year is going to be full of function and madness.
I ran out of stamps and went to the post office for new ones and remembered that there is a new Gwen Ifill stamp. My post office in East Oakland did not have the stamps which I later learned will not be issued until the end of the month but much to my delight, I saw rows and rows of Marvin Gaye’s confront looking at me so I bought a bunch.
“Released in 1971, his expansive masterwork, What’s Going On, is widely considered one of the greatest recordings in this history of American popular music,” wrote the USPS.
Listening to his lyrics as I drove through Oakland, those evergreen lyrics, “War is not the answer,” cut serious into my soul as I drove past tents pitched by homeless people in Oakland. We are set to spend trillions on the machinery of war when that wealth could be used to build safe and affordable housing for those without homes who sadly comprise many veterans of this country’s seemingly endless war.
Art is a key to lifting us up and pricking our consciousness and consciences. Brother Marvin’s words that f
‘What’s Going On’ at 50 – Marvin Gaye’s Motown classic is as relevant today as it was in 1971
Steptoe is an associate professor of history at the University of Arizona.
Motown wasn't really acknowledged for its politically conscious harmony. Then came "What's Going On."
Released on May 21, 1971, at the height of the Vietnam War, Marvin Gaye's album became a monster, spawning three hit singles on its way to becoming Motown's best-selling album to date. The album also marked a turning point for Motown and for Marvin Gaye as an artist.
As a scholar of race and culture in the U.S. and the host of the weekly radio show "Soul Stories," I am struck by how many of the themes Gaye explores remain as relevant today as they were when he first wrote about them 50 years ago.
Gaye's evolution
Some of the songs on the album speak directly to the state of the world in the early 1970s.
The title track, with its timeless lyric "war is not the answer, for only love can conquer hate," condemned the nation's involvement in Vietnam. But the song provides an insight into the evolution of Gaye's song to encompas