What's going on?
Updated: Dec 1, 2025
A commentary on popular music and the unimportance we give to the words they say
By Rodrigo Gomez Dec 1st, 2025
PART 1.
I want to know what's going on…
Marvin Gaye's hit album What's Going on is universally beloved by music snobs, casual music listeners, and musicians alike, which is something very hard to do. I’m a musician/music snob/a self proclaimed music novice, because I know I will never stop learning when it comes to anything music related. Even while being all those things, when I first listened to What’s Going On I thought it was just a well written album sonically, and maybe that's what most listeners love about it, but after a few more listens it finally hit me. This guy had written an album about how, after his personal experiences, notices that the world is heading towards a grim future, and he expresses his concerns to the people around him. But because I'm a pessimist, I like to believe that his pleas go unheard.
Let's talk about the specifics. One of the most impressive aspects of this album is how it's mixed, the songs flow together and perfectly transition to the next as if it was one singular cohesive track, while also including the same sonic motifs throughout multiple songs. The instrumentation is a mix of Jazz with some Latin influences, the melodies are beautiful which makes it very easy to get lost in the sonic landscape of the album. Maybe that's also part of the message…(bum bum buuuumm)
Ok I guess I should get to the point. The huge music publication magazine Rolling Stones put out a list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. When I saw that What’s Going On was in the number one position, I had to ask myself why? That post was made on December 31st, 2023. Finally years later I figured it out. The lyrics were reflecting everything I had been feeling for years over the state of the world. Yes, it’s obvious that What's Going On describes the depressive world Marvin Gaye was living in the late 60’s. On What's Happening Brother, which he wrote about his brother over the horrors he witnessed in the Vietnam War, talks about the obvious negative side effects of a meaningless war. On Save The Children he spoke about how the decisions people have made are going to severely affect the children and generations of the future in a negative way. On Mercy Mercy me (The Ecology) he talks about how humans have irresponsibly abused the only home we have with pollution, overpopulation and the mistreatment of animals. When you read the lyrics it's obvious, he wants the listener to LISTEN! If this album is highly acclaimed, well loved, why then does Marvin Gaye's message go unheard? Let me use a different, more simple example.
PART 2.
And I'm Never Gonna Dance Again
Careless whisper is an amazing song, George Michael wrote it when he was 17 which is insane to think about, writing one of your biggest hits before you even turn 21, any serious artist would be jealous. The track wouldn't be completely finished and released until several years later, but even as you’re reading this, you’re probably playing the song in your head, and not only that but specifically the saxophone solo…YES, I've caught you red handed. When I think about Careless Whisper the first thing that comes to my mind are the lyrics
“Time can never mend
The careless whispers of a good friend
To the heart and mind, ignorance is kind
There's no comfort in the truth, pain is all you'll find”
Now if you read those lyrics, does that sound like a song that would be included in a “top romantic songs ever” playlist? Probably not, yet it is. and again I ask myself, why? Well I think you answered that yourself by playing that saxophone solo in your head just now. People love the superficial, and the deeper meaning is set aside for another time. I hate to make it sound like you’re the bad guy, but I don't blame you, it's one hell of a saxophone solo. When you read the full lyrics of Careless Whisper, you find out that the song is about someone who has been unfaithful to their partner, and coming to terms with being at fault for their current state of loneliness,
“I'm never gonna dance again
Guilty feet have got no rhythm
Though it's easy to pretend
I know you're not a fool
I should have known better than to cheat a friend (shoulda known better, yeah)
And waste the chance that I'd been given
So I'm never gonna dance again
The way I danced with you, oh”
I love this song because of how raw and unapologetic it is towards the main protagonist. Usually in love songs people tend to write them in a way that makes you feel sorry for the lead and hopefully they redeem themselves, but not here. I love a well written, well placed melancholy in everyday life, especially when it comes to relationships. I’m not ignorant to the fact that music is part of a business, and businesses use psychology to attract consumers. Making a song catchy is part of making pop music, it always has been and it will always be that way. Yet, when we talk about “Greatest Albums of All Time” or “ Greatest Love Songs of All Time” we can't help but to analyze it further than just “well it sounds cool” there has to be a deeper message that the artist wanted you to hear.
PART 3.
Save The Children
Both Marvin Gaye and George Michael lived tumultuous lives, and it wasn't until writing this that I noticed they actually did have a lot in common. If you didn't know Marvin Gaye had an extremely toxic relationship with his father, and ultimately his father was the one that ended Marvin's life, I will write about that specific case in another post, but for now understand that his family life was rough. When I watched the WHAM documentary some years ago about George Michaels artistic career, they talked about how George Michaels father didn't believe he would have success and that he wasn't a good singer, which affected him emotionally throughout his career. George Michael would also die abruptly and ironically on Christmas Day 2016, his other biggest hit being Last Christmas. They both knew that music was something more important to them and it had to be expressed in a special way to show others the importance of what they were going through.
To me Careless Whisper is a warning to all about how love is a beautiful thing, yet if you don't take it seriously, that love can turn into horror. Whats Goin On is a well crafted album that expresses concerns for how humans behave towards one another, the mix of the album making it feel like a loop, with the repeated sonic motifs, and the title being What's Going On leads me to believe that Marvin Gaye knew he was making a catchy album, he knew we would have to analyze it deeper which is why he keeps asking questions, so that eventually we wouldn't just be singing the lyrics as lyrics but as personal questions of introspection. Some of the final lyrics of the album say “God knows where we're heading” and “They Don't Understand”
Not every work of art has a deep impactful meaning, but the ones that do, please take the time to understand them, and try to better yourself with the wise words of the artists that came before us.
Thank you for reading,
Down below I'll leave a link to What's Going On by Marvin Gaye and a couple of covers that I like, along with some quotes from the Rolling Stones article. Plus a link to the Careless Whisper long version that I listen to over the radio cut.
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