Music Monday.

Another Monday, another protest song…and I have to say, there’s so many great ones to choose from. Music has such an incredible history of subversion and rebellion. I think that’s one of the things that draws me to certain genres and styles. The seemingly harmless act of singing a song has been an act of rebellion over and over again, in perhaps a hundred different histories of fighting against oppressive forces.

LaTonya Yvette is a Brooklyn-based blogger I’ve been following for a long time now. She recently posted a playlist that reminded me of this song, but originally my husband introduced me to Marvin Gaye back when we were dating. Sadly that’s probably the last time in my life that my taste in music was significantly influenced, changed or shifted; when I started med school I ran out of time to go on music deep dive, discover new artists or explore new genres, something I still really miss and hope to get back into one of these days. Then again maybe that’s just the settling of character you get once you hit a certain point in your life? Anyone else have any thoughts on this? Anyways I digress. Sorry.

According to good old Wikipedia, Marvin Gaye did not actually write the song. It was written by Renaldo ‘Obie’ Benson of the Four Tops, after Benson witnessed an act of police brutality against anti-war protesters in Berkeley.  The Four Tops didn’t want to perform it, so Benson offered the song to Gaye, who at the time was going through a deep depression due to personal and professional issues. Gaye tweaked the lyrics and melody to suit his style. At the time he was receiving letters from his brother about his experiences as a Vietnam veteran and was deeply affected by the social ills around him. He specifically referenced the Watts riots (the most violent riots in LA until 1992’s events surrounding the beating of Rodney King) as a pivotal event inspiring his newfound concern over social justice. The song became the title track for his next album, What's Going On.

The result is a beautifully mournful record that has won dozens of accolades and became Gaye’s first album to reach the Billboard top ten. The song reached number two on the charts and is his second-most successful song to date. Ironically, the song was such a departure from Motown music more typical of the era that producer Berry Gordy initially refused to release it, as he felt it was “the worst thing I ever heard in my life.” Cementing it as a true song of rebellion, Gaye actually had to go on strike from recording other music until Berry came around. The end result is beautiful and sobering, and fits all too well into the mood of the last two weeks.

What do you think? I feel like this song was made for times like these. I also loved this music video released in 2019. Sadly could have been released yesterday, but I hope together we are able to enact real change soon.

Stay safe folks,

G 

PS- got another protest song or artist you think I should write about? Let me know in the comments. I'd like to keep this up, at least until my classes start in July.