Da 5 Bloods: The Secret Meang Marv Gaye’s Hntg Song | Vany Fair

Contents:

• SPIKE LEE PAYS TRIBUTE TO MARV GAYE, THE TEMPTATNS IN ‘DA 5 BLOODS’
• DA 5 BLOODS: THE SECRET MEANG MARV GAYE’S HNTG SONGSPIKE LEE EXPLAS WHY HE CHOSE THAT UNSETTLG VERSN OF “WHAT’S GOG ON” FOR HIS VIETNAM WAR DRAMA.BY ANTHONY BREZNINJUNE 17, 2020BY DAVID LEE/NETFLIX.SAVE THIS STORYSAVESAVE THIS STORYSAVEMARV GAYE’S “WHAT’S GOG ON” IS ONE OF THE MOST FAMO SONGS OF ALL TIME, BUT THOSE WHO WATCH SPIKE LEE’S NEW WAR FILM DA 5 BLOODS WILL HEAR AN ENTIRELY NEW WAY: STRIPPED OF SOOTHG AND SOULFUL ORCHTRATN, LEAVG ONLY THE LATE SGER’S PRISTE VOICE, ECHOG SLIGHTLY.IT’S ALMOST GHOST-LIKE, SGG OF BYGONE PA RENEWED—AND THAT’S EXACTLY WHY THE FILMMAKER CHOSE FOR HIS NETFLIX WAR DRAMA.GAYE’S MIC WAS ONE OF THE FIRST THGS LEE ADD TO THE PROJECT WHEN HE AND WRER KEV WILLMOTT (WHO SHARED AN OSR WH LEE FOR BLACKKKLANSMAN) CHANGED THE SCRIPT OM THE STORY OF FOUR OLD VIETNAM VETS ON A TREASURE HUNT TO ADD THE DIMENSN OF FOUR BLACK MEN GRAPPLG WH WHY THEY FOUGHT SO HARD FOR A UNTRY THAT NEVER FULLY VALUED THEM.“WE WANTED TO MAKE THE STORY ABOUT AIN AMERIN VIETNAM VETS,” LEE TOLD VANY FAIR. “AND WE WANTED TO CLU THE MIC OF ONE OF THE [GREATT] ALBUMS OF ALL TIME, MY OPN—MARV GAYE’S WHAT’S GOG ON.”THE 1971 ALBUM IS A THEMATIC MATCH FOR THE FILM. ALTHOUGH GAYE DID NOT PERSONALLY SERVE VIETNAM, HE CRAFTED AS A KD OF NCEPT ALBUM OM THE POT OF VIEW OF A SOLDIER RETURNG TO UNRT AND UPHEAVAL BACK HOME. THERE WAS ALSO A FAY NNECTN. “MARV GAYE’S BROTHER, FRANKIE, DID THREE TOURS VIETNAM. HE WAS A RAD OPERATOR. AND HE WOULD WRE MARV ALL THE TIME, SO MARV WAS GETTG A FIRSTHAND ACUNT OM HIS BROTHER ABOUT THE HORRORS OF THE WAR,” LEE SAID. “THOSE LETTERS WERE REALLY THE IMPET OF ONE OF THE GREATT ALBUMS OF ALL TIME, SO I WANTED TO CLU MARV’S SONGS.”THAT BACKSTORY ADDS ANOTHER LAYER TO THE LYRIC, “BROTHER, BROTHER, BROTHER/ THERE’S FAR TOO MANY OF YOU DYG...”RATHER THAN PLAY THE CLASSIC RERDG DURG THE FILM’S TENSE CLIMAX, LEE CID TO E A LTLE-KNOWN A PPELLA VERSN. FTGLY, WAS TRODUCED TO LEE BY HIS YOUNGER BROTHER. “YEAH, NO ONE’S HEARD ‘WHAT’S GOG ON’ SUNG LIKE THAT,” THE FILMMAKER SAID. “MY BROTHER CQUé [LEE] FOUND THAT ON THE TER.” IT’S PRENTED THE FILM WH ONLY SOME SLIGHT ENGEERG. “ORIGALLY, YOU HEAR A LTLE BLEED-THROUGH, THROUGH MARV’S HEADPHON, BUT WE TOOK THAT OUT. WE GOT THAT OUT,” LEE SAID.SPIKE LEE BEHD THE SCEN WH (OM LEFT) PETERS, LDO, MAJORS, AND LEWIS.ALL CREDS: BY DAVID LEE/NETFLIX.THERE’S ANOTHER TRAGIC PARALLEL TO NSIR. GAYE WAS KILLED APRIL 1984 AFTER GETTG THE MIDDLE OF AN ARGUMENT BETWEEN HIS MOTHER AND FATHER. DURG THE ALTERTN, HIS FATHER—MARV GAY SR.— SHOT HIS SON THE CHT, KILLG THE SGER STANTLY.DA 5 BLOODS ALSO FEATUR A HOSTILE AND AT TIM VLENT RELATNSHIP BETWEEN A FATHER AND SON, WH DELROY LDO GENERATG OSR TALK FOR HIS PERFORMANCE AS PL—A BATIVE, STUBBORN, AND CREASGLY VOLATILE OLD-TIMER WHO HAS EXPLOSIVE CLASH WH HIS GROWN SON (JONATHAN MAJORS), WHO HAS JOED THE TRIP ONLY TO HELP KEEP HIS FATHER SAFE.LDO’S CHARACTER HASN’T BEEN VIETNAM FOR MORE THAN FOUR S, BUT HE HAS NEVER STOPPED FIGHTG—WH HIS FAY, WH HIMSELF, AND EVEN WH HIS OWN PEOPLE. HIS OLD IENDS ARE SHOCKED (AND FEEL MORE THAN A LTLE BETRAYED) WHEN THEY LEARN HE HAS BEE A SUPPORTER OF DONALD TMP. AS LEE PUTS : “PL IS A MAGA-HAT-WEARG MOTHERFUCKER.”THE PEACEFUL, TELLECTUAL, AND EMOTNAL FLOW OF GAYE’S MIC IS A NTRAST TO THE RAGG SEA SI PL. “IT WORKS FOR THE SCENE BEE MARV GAYE, AND THAT SONG ‘WHAT’S GOG ON,’ IS A PLEA FOR HUMANY, A PLEA FOR LOVE, KDNS. AND THAT’S SOMETHG THAT DELROY’S CHARACTER DON’T HAVE,” LEE SAID. “HE NEVER ME BACK RIGHT. DELROY’S CHARACTER IS A TRAGIC CHARACTER. HE’S TWISTED, HE HAS MONS. YOU KNOW THAT SAYG, ‘IF I DIDN’T HAVE BAD LUCK, I WOULDN’T HAVE ANY LUCK AT ALL’?”COCINTALLY, THAT’S ACTUALLY A LE OM 1954’S “BAD LUCK BLU” BY LIGHTN’ SLIM.THERE’S ONE MORE MIL REFERENCE DA 5 BLOODS THAT ISN’T NNECTED TO GAYE, BUT ALSO HAS S ROOTS MOTOWN. THE HT: LDO PLAYS PL, MAJORS PLAYS HIS SON DAVID, CLARKE PETERS PLAYS OTIS, ISIAH WHLOCK JR. IS MELV, AND NORM LEWIS IS EDDIE.“NO ONE’S EVER YOU WILL NOW,” LEE SAID. “ALL THE CHARACTER’S NAM, THOSE ARE THE FIVE GUYS OM THE ORIGAL TEMPTATNS.”MORE GREAT STORI FROM VANY FAIR— “CAN WE LIVE?” THE DGHTER OF CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVISTS ON THE QUTN THAT’S HNTED HER FOR DES— CATHERE O’HARA, QUEEN OF SCHT’S CREEK, TALKS GILDA RADNER FRIENDSHIP & MORE— EXCLIVE: STEPHEN KG’S THE STAND COM TO LIFE AGA— JEFEY EPSTE: SEVEN REMAG MYSTERI—AND DISTURBG REVELATNS— OLD HOLLYWOOD’S MOST SNDALO SECRETS, AS TOLD BY DAVID NIVEN— TREVOR NOAH AND THE DAILY SHOW AREN’T JT SURVIVG—THEY’RE THRIVG— FROM THE ARCHIVE: SIDNEY POIER’S POTED MSAGE TO WHE AMERI AS RACE RTS SWEPT THE NATN THE SUMMER OF 1967LOOKG FOR MORE? SIGN UP FOR OUR DAILY HOLLYWOOD NEWSLETTER AND NEVER MISS A STORY.ANTHONY BREZNIN
• ‘DA 5 BLOODS’ COMPOSER ON SPIKE LEE’S VISN, MARV GAYE’S MSAGE AND HOLLYWOOD’S POC BLDSPOT
• IN SPIKE LEE’S FUR NEW FILM, MARV GAYE’S ‘WHAT’S GOG ON’ IS STILL FIGHTG THE POWER

SPIKE LEE PAYS TRIBUTE TO MARV GAYE, THE TEMPTATNS IN ‘DA 5 BLOODS’

Throughout the film, which swch between the prent day and flashbacks, Lee rporated numero selectns om Marv Gaye’s socially-nsc masterpiece, What’s Gog On, to serve as a mil backdrop, alongsi a sre om the Grammy-wng poser Terence Blanchard.

When Marv Gaye released What’s Gog On 1971,  marked a bold shift his reer.

Prr to that, Gaye’s work unr Motown had been primarily sgle-driven, wh hs like the bubbly ‘It Tak Two’ wh Kim Wton, ‘A’t No Mounta High’ and ‘A’t Nothg Like The Real Thg’ – both wh Tammi Terrell – and the pensive ‘I Heard It Through The Grapeve’, which marked the artist’s first No. Ahead of the new , Gaye took a few years away om the road to reflect on his reer and the state of the world. Gaye’s lyrics tell the tale of an Ain-Amerin soldier jt back om the war, who is stgglg to fd work and return to the normalcy of daily life.

DA 5 BLOODS: THE SECRET MEANG MARV GAYE’S HNTG SONGSPIKE LEE EXPLAS WHY HE CHOSE THAT UNSETTLG VERSN OF “WHAT’S GOG ON” FOR HIS VIETNAM WAR DRAMA.BY ANTHONY BREZNINJUNE 17, 2020BY DAVID LEE/NETFLIX.SAVE THIS STORYSAVESAVE THIS STORYSAVEMARV GAYE’S “WHAT’S GOG ON” IS ONE OF THE MOST FAMO SONGS OF ALL TIME, BUT THOSE WHO WATCH SPIKE LEE’S NEW WAR FILM DA 5 BLOODS WILL HEAR AN ENTIRELY NEW WAY: STRIPPED OF SOOTHG AND SOULFUL ORCHTRATN, LEAVG ONLY THE LATE SGER’S PRISTE VOICE, ECHOG SLIGHTLY.IT’S ALMOST GHOST-LIKE, SGG OF BYGONE PA RENEWED—AND THAT’S EXACTLY WHY THE FILMMAKER CHOSE FOR HIS NETFLIX WAR DRAMA.GAYE’S MIC WAS ONE OF THE FIRST THGS LEE ADD TO THE PROJECT WHEN HE AND WRER KEV WILLMOTT (WHO SHARED AN OSR WH LEE FOR BLACKKKLANSMAN) CHANGED THE SCRIPT OM THE STORY OF FOUR OLD VIETNAM VETS ON A TREASURE HUNT TO ADD THE DIMENSN OF FOUR BLACK MEN GRAPPLG WH WHY THEY FOUGHT SO HARD FOR A UNTRY THAT NEVER FULLY VALUED THEM.“WE WANTED TO MAKE THE STORY ABOUT AIN AMERIN VIETNAM VETS,” LEE TOLD VANY FAIR. “AND WE WANTED TO CLU THE MIC OF ONE OF THE [GREATT] ALBUMS OF ALL TIME, MY OPN—MARV GAYE’S WHAT’S GOG ON.”THE 1971 ALBUM IS A THEMATIC MATCH FOR THE FILM. ALTHOUGH GAYE DID NOT PERSONALLY SERVE VIETNAM, HE CRAFTED AS A KD OF NCEPT ALBUM OM THE POT OF VIEW OF A SOLDIER RETURNG TO UNRT AND UPHEAVAL BACK HOME. THERE WAS ALSO A FAY NNECTN. “MARV GAYE’S BROTHER, FRANKIE, DID THREE TOURS VIETNAM. HE WAS A RAD OPERATOR. AND HE WOULD WRE MARV ALL THE TIME, SO MARV WAS GETTG A FIRSTHAND ACUNT OM HIS BROTHER ABOUT THE HORRORS OF THE WAR,” LEE SAID. “THOSE LETTERS WERE REALLY THE IMPET OF ONE OF THE GREATT ALBUMS OF ALL TIME, SO I WANTED TO CLU MARV’S SONGS.”THAT BACKSTORY ADDS ANOTHER LAYER TO THE LYRIC, “BROTHER, BROTHER, BROTHER/ THERE’S FAR TOO MANY OF YOU DYG...”RATHER THAN PLAY THE CLASSIC RERDG DURG THE FILM’S TENSE CLIMAX, LEE CID TO E A LTLE-KNOWN A PPELLA VERSN. FTGLY, WAS TRODUCED TO LEE BY HIS YOUNGER BROTHER. “YEAH, NO ONE’S HEARD ‘WHAT’S GOG ON’ SUNG LIKE THAT,” THE FILMMAKER SAID. “MY BROTHER CQUé [LEE] FOUND THAT ON THE TER.” IT’S PRENTED THE FILM WH ONLY SOME SLIGHT ENGEERG. “ORIGALLY, YOU HEAR A LTLE BLEED-THROUGH, THROUGH MARV’S HEADPHON, BUT WE TOOK THAT OUT. WE GOT THAT OUT,” LEE SAID.SPIKE LEE BEHD THE SCEN WH (OM LEFT) PETERS, LDO, MAJORS, AND LEWIS.ALL CREDS: BY DAVID LEE/NETFLIX.THERE’S ANOTHER TRAGIC PARALLEL TO NSIR. GAYE WAS KILLED APRIL 1984 AFTER GETTG THE MIDDLE OF AN ARGUMENT BETWEEN HIS MOTHER AND FATHER. DURG THE ALTERTN, HIS FATHER—MARV GAY SR.— SHOT HIS SON THE CHT, KILLG THE SGER STANTLY.DA 5 BLOODS ALSO FEATUR A HOSTILE AND AT TIM VLENT RELATNSHIP BETWEEN A FATHER AND SON, WH DELROY LDO GENERATG OSR TALK FOR HIS PERFORMANCE AS PL—A BATIVE, STUBBORN, AND CREASGLY VOLATILE OLD-TIMER WHO HAS EXPLOSIVE CLASH WH HIS GROWN SON (JONATHAN MAJORS), WHO HAS JOED THE TRIP ONLY TO HELP KEEP HIS FATHER SAFE.LDO’S CHARACTER HASN’T BEEN VIETNAM FOR MORE THAN FOUR S, BUT HE HAS NEVER STOPPED FIGHTG—WH HIS FAY, WH HIMSELF, AND EVEN WH HIS OWN PEOPLE. HIS OLD IENDS ARE SHOCKED (AND FEEL MORE THAN A LTLE BETRAYED) WHEN THEY LEARN HE HAS BEE A SUPPORTER OF DONALD TMP. AS LEE PUTS : “PL IS A MAGA-HAT-WEARG MOTHERFUCKER.”THE PEACEFUL, TELLECTUAL, AND EMOTNAL FLOW OF GAYE’S MIC IS A NTRAST TO THE RAGG SEA SI PL. “IT WORKS FOR THE SCENE BEE MARV GAYE, AND THAT SONG ‘WHAT’S GOG ON,’ IS A PLEA FOR HUMANY, A PLEA FOR LOVE, KDNS. AND THAT’S SOMETHG THAT DELROY’S CHARACTER DON’T HAVE,” LEE SAID. “HE NEVER ME BACK RIGHT. DELROY’S CHARACTER IS A TRAGIC CHARACTER. HE’S TWISTED, HE HAS MONS. YOU KNOW THAT SAYG, ‘IF I DIDN’T HAVE BAD LUCK, I WOULDN’T HAVE ANY LUCK AT ALL’?”COCINTALLY, THAT’S ACTUALLY A LE OM 1954’S “BAD LUCK BLU” BY LIGHTN’ SLIM.THERE’S ONE MORE MIL REFERENCE DA 5 BLOODS THAT ISN’T NNECTED TO GAYE, BUT ALSO HAS S ROOTS MOTOWN. THE HT: LDO PLAYS PL, MAJORS PLAYS HIS SON DAVID, CLARKE PETERS PLAYS OTIS, ISIAH WHLOCK JR. IS MELV, AND NORM LEWIS IS EDDIE.“NO ONE’S EVER YOU WILL NOW,” LEE SAID. “ALL THE CHARACTER’S NAM, THOSE ARE THE FIVE GUYS OM THE ORIGAL TEMPTATNS.”MORE GREAT STORI FROM VANY FAIR— “CAN WE LIVE?” THE DGHTER OF CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVISTS ON THE QUTN THAT’S HNTED HER FOR DES— CATHERE O’HARA, QUEEN OF SCHT’S CREEK, TALKS GILDA RADNER FRIENDSHIP & MORE— EXCLIVE: STEPHEN KG’S THE STAND COM TO LIFE AGA— JEFEY EPSTE: SEVEN REMAG MYSTERI—AND DISTURBG REVELATNS— OLD HOLLYWOOD’S MOST SNDALO SECRETS, AS TOLD BY DAVID NIVEN— TREVOR NOAH AND THE DAILY SHOW AREN’T JT SURVIVG—THEY’RE THRIVG— FROM THE ARCHIVE: SIDNEY POIER’S POTED MSAGE TO WHE AMERI AS RACE RTS SWEPT THE NATN THE SUMMER OF 1967LOOKG FOR MORE? SIGN UP FOR OUR DAILY HOLLYWOOD NEWSLETTER AND NEVER MISS A STORY.ANTHONY BREZNIN

“This is what the brothers Vietnam were listeng to, and what they were listeng to as they me back, ” said Lee about Gaye’s album, an terview wh the Los Angel Tim. The legendary director also clud the album’s tle track, which beme a massive h for Gaye, htg No. The poted song portrays the bleak state of the untry’s ner-ci, as Gaye sgs “Crime is creasg/Trigger happy policg/Panic is spreadg/God knows where we’re headg.

He also discsed how Gaye’s msage What’s Gog On still ronat today. Marv Gaye - What's Gog On (Official Vio 2019). Inner Cy Blu (Make Me Wanna Holler) – Marv Gaye.

‘DA 5 BLOODS’ COMPOSER ON SPIKE LEE’S VISN, MARV GAYE’S MSAGE AND HOLLYWOOD’S POC BLDSPOT

Got to Give It Up – Marv Gaye. What’s Happeng Brother – Marv Gaye. Wholy Holy – Marv Gaye.

Fly’ High (In the Friendly Sky) – Marv Gaye. What’s Gog On – Marv Gaye.

Marv Gaye’s “What’s Gog On” is one of the most famo songs of all time, but those who watch Spike Lee’s new war film Da 5 Bloods will hear an entirely new way: stripped of soothg and soulful orchtratn, leavg only the late sger’s priste voice, echog ’s almost ghost-like, sgg of bygone pa renewed—and that’s exactly why the filmmaker chose for his Netflix war ’s mic was one of the first thgs Lee add to the project when he and wrer Kev Willmott (who shared an Osr wh Lee for BlacKkKlansman) changed the script om the story of four old Vietnam vets on a treasure hunt to add the dimensn of four Black men grapplg wh why they fought so hard for a untry that never fully valued them.

IN SPIKE LEE’S FUR NEW FILM, MARV GAYE’S ‘WHAT’S GOG ON’ IS STILL FIGHTG THE POWER

“And we wanted to clu the mic of one of the [greatt] albums of all time, my opn—Marv Gaye’s What’s Gog On. Although Gaye did not personally serve Vietnam, he crafted as a kd of ncept album om the pot of view of a soldier returng to unrt and upheaval back home.

“Marv Gaye’s brother, Frankie, did three tours Vietnam. Gaye was killed April 1984 after gettg the middle of an argument between his mother and father.