On March 16, 1970, the sensationally talented singer-songwriter Tammi Terrell passed away at the young age of 24, losing a long fought battle with a brain tumor. You might recognize the name from the incredibly popular song “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” which records over 1.1 billion plays on Spotify. This track was just one of an entire album of duets, United, featuring the motown singers’ powerful, soulful voices that swooned the United States. Terrell and Gaye were extremely close, and, although the relationship between them was strictly platonic, they shared a powerful bond that allowed them to sing and perform with an unrivaled passion. They were a dominant duo, a tandem bicycle that would never surrender to a mountain too high, a valley too low, or a river too wide. Unfortunately, riding a tandem bicycle without a partner is a certain way to crash. And when Terrell passed, that’s exactly what happened.

Following her death, Gaye fell into seclusion, handling problems in his business and his marriage. Nevertheless, he continued to silently work on his own projects and on May 21, 1971, the album What’s Going On was released. Though it is only 9 songs, 35 and a half minutes, Marvin Gaye is able to pack so much content and truly impact the listener. This album is much darker and heavier than his prior work. All of these songs are protest songs, that attempt (and succeed) to grasp the listener by the ears and make them understand the core issues that are plaguing America. Instead of just making the audience hear his marvelous voice, he makes them listen to what he says. What’s Going On explores several themes, the key ones being those of police brutality, war, faith, climate change and pollution, family, and love.

Track 1, “What’s Going On”, starts off with the chatter of some people and then dives into a raw, rich saxophone lick before Gaye starts to sing. When he does start, he opens by addressing family members, singing “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.” These lines are a clear condemnation of war and its horrors. Gaye is specifically singing about the Vietnam War which saw close to 60,000 U.S. military fatalities. Gaye’s brother, Frankie, was a radio operator in Vietnam during the 1960s and held several first hand experiences that he later told Marvin. It seems strange, then, that the song itself is somewhat upbeat. It’s certainly not cheery or happy, but it is optimistic that we can return to an era of love and forgiveness. 

As the vocalizations and trills slowly die out, they immediately return at the start of track 2, “What’s Happening Brother”. The transition to this song shows how track 2 is really just a continuation of track 1. Musically, it uses the same motifs and the primary topic is still war. That being said, it offers a greater insight to how Gaye has been shocked by what America has turned into. Gaye sings, “Can’t find no work, can’t find no job, my friend / Money is tighter than it’s ever been / Say, man, I just don’t understand / What’s going on across this land,” addressing poverty and the systemic issues that provoked the protests of the late 50s and through the 60s.

Religion and faith are also key topics, being featured in “Flyin’ High (in the Friendly Sky)”, “God is Love”, and “Wholy Holy”, and these songs mesh well with his calls of love and unity. While these are primarily Christian themes, Gaye does not sing in a proselytizing manner. He simply calls for loving one another, and, in his case, believing in Jesus. 

Every song on this album sounds very similar to the point where it can be difficult to discern when one song ends and when the next begins. This is meaningfully done, something known as a song cycle where the audience must listen to the entire album, the entire unit as a whole to truly understand Gaye’s art and his message.

What’s Going On became incredibly popular and successful, selling over two million copies and resided on both R&B and pop charts for over a year. This homage to friend Tammi, his brother Frankie, and to his country America became his best-selling album. While it is said that Gaye had never recovered from the death of Terrell, he continued to work and honor her legacy by dedicating himself further to his craft. 

So, please, take some time out of your day to ask What’s Going On and you’ll be delighted to find that this album, just as the others, has no skips.