The Story Of Marv Gaye's 'What's Gog On' : NPR

Contents:

• THE STORY OF... 'WHAT'S GOG ON' BY MARV GAYE
• MARV GAYE’S “WHAT’S GOG ON” LYRICS MEANG
• THE REAL MEANG BEHD MARV GAYE'S 'WHAT'S GOG ON'
• MARV GAYE’S ‘WHAT’S GOG ON’ IS AS RELEVANT TODAY AS IT WAS 1971
• THE STORY OF MARV GAYE'S 'WHAT'S GOG ON'
• ‘MORE LIKE A STORY THAN A SONG’: HOW MARV GAYE’S ‘WHAT’S GOG ON’ REMAS RELEVANT 50 YEARS LATER
• MARV GAYE
• WHAT’S GOG ONMARV GAYETRACK 1 ON WHAT’S GOG ON PRODUCED BYMARV GAYEWHAT’S GOG ON IS AN EXQUISE PLEA FOR PEACE ON EARTH, SUNG BY A MAN AT THE HEIGHT OF CRISIS. IN 1970, MARV GAYE WAS MOTOWN’S TOP MALE VOL STAR, YET HE WAS TRATED… READ MORE JAN. 17, 19714 VIEWERS593.1K VIEWS85 CONTRIBUTORSWHAT’S GOG ON LYRICS[INTRO]HEY, HEY-HEYHEY, WHAT'S HAPPEN'?HEY, BROTHER, WHAT'S HAPPEN'?BOY, THIS IS A GROOVY PARTY (HEY, HOW YOU DO'?)MAN, I N DIG YEAH, BROTHER, SOLID, RIGHT ONWHAT'S HAPPEN'?HEY, MAN, WHAT'S HAPPENG?WOOEVERYTHG IS EVERYTHGWE'RE GONNA DO A GET DOWN TODAY, BOY, I'LL TELL YA[VERSE 1]MOTHER, MOTHERTHERE'S TOO MANY OF YOU CRYGBROTHER, BROTHER, BROTHERTHERE'S FAR TOO MANY OF YOU DYGYOU KNOW WE'VE GOT TO FD A WAYTO BRG SOME LOVG HERE TODAY, YEAH[VERSE 2]FATHER, FATHERWE DON'T NEED TO LATEYOU SEE, WAR IS NOT THE ANSWERFOR ONLY LOVE N NQUER HATEYOU KNOW WE'VE GOT TO FD A WAYTO BRG SOME LOVG HERE TODAY, OH (OH)YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE[CHOS]PICKET L (SISTER) AND PICKET SIGNS (SISTER)DON'T PUNISH ME (SISTER) WH BTALY (SISTER)TALK TO ME (SISTER), SO YOU N SEE (SISTER)OH, WHAT'S GOG ON (WHAT'S GOG ON)WHAT'S GOG ON (WHAT'S GOG ON)YEAH, WHAT'S GOG ON (WHAT'S GOG ON)OH, WHAT'S GOG ON[POST-CHOS]AH-AH-AH-AH (IN THE MEANTIME, RIGHT ON, BABY)WOO (RIGHT ON, BABY), WOOAH-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA, YA-YA-YA-YA-YAWOO (RIGHT ON, BABY, RIGHT ON), WOOAH-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YABA-DA-BOO-DOO, BOO-BOO-BOO-DOO, BOO-BOO-BOOBA-DA-BOO-BOO-BOO-DOO, BOO-BOO-BOO-BA-BA-DO[VERSE 3]MOTHER, MOTHEREVERYBODY THKS WE'RE WRONGOH, BUT WHO ARE THEY TO JUDGE SIMPLY 'E OUR HAIR IS LONG?OH, YOU KNOW WE'VE GOT TO FD A WAYTO BRG SOME UNRSTANDG HERE TODAY, OH-OH[CHOS]PICKET L (BROTHER) AND PICKET SIGNS (BROTHER)DON'T PUNISH ME (BROTHER) WH BTALY (BROTHER)COME ON, TALK TO ME (BROTHER), SO YOU N SEE (BROTHER)OH, WHAT'S GOG ON (WHAT'S GOG ON)YEAH, WHAT'S GOG ON (WHAT'S GOG ON)TELL ME WHAT'S GOG ON (WHAT'S GOG ON)I'LL TELL YOU WHAT'S GOG ON (WHAT'S GOG ON)[POST-CHOS]WOO-OOH-OOH-OOH (RIGHT ON, BABY, RIGHT ON)AH-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA, YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YAWOO, WOO (RIGHT ON)AH-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YABA-DA-BOO-DOO, BOO-BOO-BOO-DOOBA-DA-BOO-BOO-BOO-DOO, BA-DA-DA-DA-DA-DA-DA[OUTRO]WOO (RIGHT ON, BABY, E ON, RIGHT ON)AH-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YAWOO (RIGHT ON)LISTEN, AH-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YADA-BOO-DOO, BOO-BOO-BOO-DOODA-BOO-BOO-DOO, BOO-BOO-BOO49EMBEDCANCELHOW TO FORMAT LYRICS:TYPE OUT ALL LYRICS, EVEN REPEATG SONG PARTS LIKE THE CHOSLYRICS SHOULD BE BROKEN DOWN TO DIVIDUAL LUSE SECTN HEARS ABOVE DIFFERENT SONG PARTS LIKE [VERSE], [CHOS], ETC.USE ALICS (<I>LYRIC</I>) AND BOLD (<B>LYRIC</B>) TO DISTGUISH BETWEEN DIFFERENT VOLISTS THE SAME SONG PARTIF YOU DON’T UNRSTAND A LYRIC, E [?]TO LEARN MORE, CHECK OUT OUR TRANSCRIPTN GUI OR VIS OUR TRANSCRIBERS FOMABOUT
• HOW MARV GAYE’S ‘WHAT’S GOG ON’ CHANGED THE SOUND OF R&B FOREVER
• MARV GAYE’S ‘WHAT’S GOG ON’ GETS 50TH ANNIVERSARY DIGAL REISSUE

THE STORY OF... 'WHAT'S GOG ON' BY MARV GAYE

Marv Gaye's prott anthem 'What's Gog On' was a powerful and groundbreakg song at the time of s release 1971, but fast forward 50 years later and is sadly still jt as relevant for the world 2021.

Wh the huge spark of protts the US and around the world agast racism followg the ath of Gee Floyd a year ago, the subject of police btaly and racial jtice is beg discsed as much today as was back Gaye -wrote 'What's Gog On' about the issu of the time, but ltle did he know that over 30 years after his ath, tragilly still sounds as if uld have been wrten 's the history of one of the most important songs of the 20th century, 50 years on:. The song was -wrten by Renaldo 'Obie' Benson, Al Cleveland, and Marv Gaye, and produced by Gaye song marked Gaye's parture om the Motown Sound of his prev output, towards more personal was the tle track of his album What's Gog On?, released May 1971. '"In 1970, Benson gave the untled song to Marv Gaye, who add a new melody and changed the song and add his own later said Gaye "add some thgs that were more ghetto, more natural, which ma seem like a story than a song...

He ially thought the song's would be good for the group The Origals, Benson nvced Gaye to rerd was spired by social jtic mted the US, cludg the 1965 Watts rts. '"He was also fluenced by emotnal nversatns shared between him and his brother Frankie, who had returned om three years at the Vietnam War, and his Marv's ath while servg phone nversatns wh Motown boss Berry Gordy, who was on holiday the Bahamas at the time, Gaye told Gordy that he wanted to rerd a prott album, to which Gordy said: "Marv, don't be ridiculo. Marv Gaye - What's Gog On (Official Vio 2019).

MARV GAYE’S “WHAT’S GOG ON” LYRICS MEANG

Marv Gaye was spired by recent succs of his productns for The Origals, and cid to produce the song brought origal Motown -hoe stud micians such as Jam Jamerson and Eddie Brown, wh micians he reced openg saxophone le, by mician Eli Fontae, was not origally tend for the song. Once Gaye heard Fontae's riff, he told Fontae to go home. When Fontae protted that he was jt "goofg around", Gaye replied: "you goof off exquisely, thank you.

"The laid-back atmosphere the stud was helped by nstant marijuana smokg by Gaye and the micians. Jamerson was brought after Gaye saw him playg wh a band at a lol bar. However, the night Jamerson me to rerd the bass l, he uld not s properly his seat and laid on the floor playg his bass Annie Jamerson later said that when he returned home that night, he clared that the song was a "masterpiece" also provid piano and keyboards, and also played a box dm to help alongsi Chet Fort's also ved the Detro Lns players Mel Farr and Lem Barney to the stud and, along wh Gaye and the Funk Brothers, add var vol chatter the background, a mock nversatn.

THE REAL MEANG BEHD MARV GAYE'S 'WHAT'S GOG ON'

However, when he heard , Gaye was imprsed wh the double-lead feel that he kept . When Gordy heard the song, he turned down Gaye's requt to release , tellg Gaye he felt was "the worst thg I ever heard my life" rpond to this rejectn by refg to rerd anythg else unls the song would be released, gog on strike until Gordy saw more: The 25 greatt Motown songs, rankedThe song was released whout Gordy's knowledge, and sold over 200, 000 pi wh a eventually beme a huge succs, reachg the top of the charts wh a month, stayg at number-one for five weeks on the Billboard R&B charts. It forced Gordy to allow Gaye to produce his own mic, givg him an ultimatum to plete an album by the end of March, rultg What's Gog On.

“What’s Gog On” is a very powerful polil song performed by the late Amerin sger Marv Gaye.

MARV GAYE’S ‘WHAT’S GOG ON’ IS AS RELEVANT TODAY AS IT WAS 1971

After the Four Tops refed rerdg the song, Benson gave to sger Marv Gaye, who went to modify the song the followg two major ways:.

THE STORY OF MARV GAYE'S 'WHAT'S GOG ON'

Sce the song was untled when was given to Gaye, he also gave the tle, “What’s Gog On”. While Gaye was workg on the song, he was spired by the numero social problems that were then gog on the Uned Stat. In addn to that, Gaye was spired to wre the lyrics of the song by nversatns he had wh his brother Frankie Gaye regardg Frankie’s tenure the Vietnam War as well as the tragic ath of his that same war.

Acrdg to Gaye, he jt uldn’t go on sgg love songs when the world was explodg around him.

‘MORE LIKE A STORY THAN A SONG’: HOW MARV GAYE’S ‘WHAT’S GOG ON’ REMAS RELEVANT 50 YEARS LATER

“What’s Gog On” was wrten by songwrers Renaldo “Obie” Benson, Marv Gaye, and Al Cleveland. The song was released on January 21st, 1971 as the first sgle om Gaye’s eleventh stud album of the same name (“What’s Gog On“). Gaye ially wanted to be rerd by the Motown R&B The Origals, but Benson suggted that Gaye sg the song.

MARV GAYE

The song’s background vols were sung by Gaye along wh Amerin football players Mel Farr and Lem Barney. Artists Agast AIDS Worldwi (ma up of such artists as Brney Spears, Dty’s Child, Nelly Furtado, Christa Aguilera, Jennifer Lopez and Marv Gaye’s dghter Nona).

WHAT’S GOG ONMARV GAYETRACK 1 ON WHAT’S GOG ON PRODUCED BYMARV GAYEWHAT’S GOG ON IS AN EXQUISE PLEA FOR PEACE ON EARTH, SUNG BY A MAN AT THE HEIGHT OF CRISIS. IN 1970, MARV GAYE WAS MOTOWN’S TOP MALE VOL STAR, YET HE WAS TRATED… READ MORE JAN. 17, 19714 VIEWERS593.1K VIEWS85 CONTRIBUTORSWHAT’S GOG ON LYRICS[INTRO]HEY, HEY-HEYHEY, WHAT'S HAPPEN'?HEY, BROTHER, WHAT'S HAPPEN'?BOY, THIS IS A GROOVY PARTY (HEY, HOW YOU DO'?)MAN, I N DIG YEAH, BROTHER, SOLID, RIGHT ONWHAT'S HAPPEN'?HEY, MAN, WHAT'S HAPPENG?WOOEVERYTHG IS EVERYTHGWE'RE GONNA DO A GET DOWN TODAY, BOY, I'LL TELL YA[VERSE 1]MOTHER, MOTHERTHERE'S TOO MANY OF YOU CRYGBROTHER, BROTHER, BROTHERTHERE'S FAR TOO MANY OF YOU DYGYOU KNOW WE'VE GOT TO FD A WAYTO BRG SOME LOVG HERE TODAY, YEAH[VERSE 2]FATHER, FATHERWE DON'T NEED TO LATEYOU SEE, WAR IS NOT THE ANSWERFOR ONLY LOVE N NQUER HATEYOU KNOW WE'VE GOT TO FD A WAYTO BRG SOME LOVG HERE TODAY, OH (OH)YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE[CHOS]PICKET L (SISTER) AND PICKET SIGNS (SISTER)DON'T PUNISH ME (SISTER) WH BTALY (SISTER)TALK TO ME (SISTER), SO YOU N SEE (SISTER)OH, WHAT'S GOG ON (WHAT'S GOG ON)WHAT'S GOG ON (WHAT'S GOG ON)YEAH, WHAT'S GOG ON (WHAT'S GOG ON)OH, WHAT'S GOG ON[POST-CHOS]AH-AH-AH-AH (IN THE MEANTIME, RIGHT ON, BABY)WOO (RIGHT ON, BABY), WOOAH-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA, YA-YA-YA-YA-YAWOO (RIGHT ON, BABY, RIGHT ON), WOOAH-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YABA-DA-BOO-DOO, BOO-BOO-BOO-DOO, BOO-BOO-BOOBA-DA-BOO-BOO-BOO-DOO, BOO-BOO-BOO-BA-BA-DO[VERSE 3]MOTHER, MOTHEREVERYBODY THKS WE'RE WRONGOH, BUT WHO ARE THEY TO JUDGE SIMPLY 'E OUR HAIR IS LONG?OH, YOU KNOW WE'VE GOT TO FD A WAYTO BRG SOME UNRSTANDG HERE TODAY, OH-OH[CHOS]PICKET L (BROTHER) AND PICKET SIGNS (BROTHER)DON'T PUNISH ME (BROTHER) WH BTALY (BROTHER)COME ON, TALK TO ME (BROTHER), SO YOU N SEE (BROTHER)OH, WHAT'S GOG ON (WHAT'S GOG ON)YEAH, WHAT'S GOG ON (WHAT'S GOG ON)TELL ME WHAT'S GOG ON (WHAT'S GOG ON)I'LL TELL YOU WHAT'S GOG ON (WHAT'S GOG ON)[POST-CHOS]WOO-OOH-OOH-OOH (RIGHT ON, BABY, RIGHT ON)AH-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA, YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YAWOO, WOO (RIGHT ON)AH-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YABA-DA-BOO-DOO, BOO-BOO-BOO-DOOBA-DA-BOO-BOO-BOO-DOO, BA-DA-DA-DA-DA-DA-DA[OUTRO]WOO (RIGHT ON, BABY, E ON, RIGHT ON)AH-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YAWOO (RIGHT ON)LISTEN, AH-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YADA-BOO-DOO, BOO-BOO-BOO-DOODA-BOO-BOO-DOO, BOO-BOO-BOO49EMBEDCANCELHOW TO FORMAT LYRICS:TYPE OUT ALL LYRICS, EVEN REPEATG SONG PARTS LIKE THE CHOSLYRICS SHOULD BE BROKEN DOWN TO DIVIDUAL LUSE SECTN HEARS ABOVE DIFFERENT SONG PARTS LIKE [VERSE], [CHOS], ETC.USE ALICS (<I>LYRIC</I>) AND BOLD (<B>LYRIC</B>) TO DISTGUISH BETWEEN DIFFERENT VOLISTS THE SAME SONG PARTIF YOU DON’T UNRSTAND A LYRIC, E [?]TO LEARN MORE, CHECK OUT OUR TRANSCRIPTN GUI OR VIS OUR TRANSCRIBERS FOMABOUT

" Dpe his pleas to his band, the rt of the Four Tops would not budge and Benson cid to hand over the song to his iend, sger Marv Gaye.

Dpe not beg the first songwrer, Gaye left his mark on the song, pletely reworkg the melody and addg new lyrics on top of Benson and Cleveland's origal posn.

It was Gaye who gave the untled track s tle, which would bee the tle of his next album, "What's Gog On. " For Gaye, his own experience also had an impact on the song. Marv Gaye's Fay and Social Injtice Prompted Him to make 'What's Gog On'.

HOW MARV GAYE’S ‘WHAT’S GOG ON’ CHANGED THE SOUND OF R&B FOREVER

Acrdg to Smooth Rad, Obie Benson said Marv Gaye, "add some thgs that were more ghetto, more natural, which ma seem like a story than a song. " While "Bloody Thursday" spired Benson to wre the ial versn of "What's Gog On, " Gaye's spiratn was more personal.

At the height of the Vietnam War, Gaye's younger brother, Frankie, had spent three years southeast Asia fightg.

MARV GAYE’S ‘WHAT’S GOG ON’ GETS 50TH ANNIVERSARY DIGAL REISSUE

Marv Gaye's journey to social activism did not beg wh "What's Gog On, " but stead several years prr. Gaye reportedly said to himself, "wh the world explodg around me, how am I supposed to keep sgg love songs?

By 1970, Gaye was ready to evolve his mic to clu social topics of the day. In a nversatn wh Motown Rerds head, Berry Gordy, Gaye exprsed tert makg a prott album, to which Gordy phed back on Gaye's ia. Gaye refed to rerd any song until "What's Gog On, " the song, was released.

"What’s Gog On" was a turng pot for Marv Gaye. Released on May 21, 1971, at the height of the Vietnam War, Marv Gaye’s album beme a monster, spawng three h sgl on s way to beg Motown’s bt-sellg album to date. The album also marked a turng pot for Motown and for Marv Gaye as an artist.