About The Song
Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On” is a song and the title of his eleventh studio album. The song was released in 1971 on the Motown subsidiary Tamla. It was inspired by a police brutality incident witnessed by Renaldo “Obie” Benson. Benson, Al Cleveland, and Gaye composed the song, and Gaye produced it. The song marked Gaye’s departure from the Motown Sound towards more personal material.
The song is the opening track of the album of the same name. The album was recorded between 1970 and 1971 in sessions at Hitsville U.S.A., Golden World, and United Sound Studios in Detroit, and at The Sound Factory in West Hollywood, California. The album was released on May 21, 1971, by the Motown Records subsidiary label Tamla.
Video
Lyrics
Hey, hey-hey
Hey, what’s happenin’?
Hey, brother, what’s happenin’?
Boy, this is a groovy party (Hey, how you doin’?)
Man, I can dig it
Yeah, brother, solid, right on
What’s happenin’?
Hey, man, what’s happening?
Woo
Everything is everything
We’re gonna do a get down today, boy, I’ll tell ya
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
You know we’ve got to find a way
To bring some lovin’ here today, oh (Oh)
Picket lines (Sister) and picket signs (Sister)
Don’t punish me (Sister) with brutality (Sister)
Talk to me (Sister), so you can see (Sister)
Oh, what’s going on (What’s going on)
What’s going on (What’s going on)
Yeah, what’s going on (What’s going on)
Oh, what’s going on
(In the meantime, right on, baby)
Woo (Right on, baby), woo
Ah-ya-ya-ya-ya-ya-ya, ya-ya-ya-ya-ya
Woo (Right on, baby, right on)
Right on
Ah-ya-ya-ya-ya-ya-ya, ya-ya-ya-ya-ya
Mother, mother, everybody thinks we’re wrong
Oh, but who are they to judge us
Simply because our hair is long
Oh, you know we’ve got to find a way
To bring some understanding here today
Oh
Picket lines and picket signs
Don’t punish me with brutality
Talk to me
So you can see
What’s going on
Yeah, what’s going on
Tell me what’s going on
I’ll tell you what’s going on – uh
Right on baby
Right on baby