Marvin Gaye - "What's Going On"

Today is the official 50th anniversary of Motown. Like so many (I might argue most) people, the music of Motown has had a profound influence on my life. The Temptations, The Four Tops, Stevie Wonder - I'm forever grateful that as a white kid growing up in the south in the '70s, these guys were held up by my dad as people to look up to and emulate. My favorite song when I was a toddler was "Get Ready" by The Temptations. Of course I had no idea what it meant, but I LOVED it, and would do the little Temptations dance that my dad taught me for hours.

Over the years, though I'm sometimes slower on the uptake than others, I've loved diving further into the many layers of Motown. Early on, I was hooked by the rhythms and the joyful melodies. As a teenager, I started catching on to the more contemplative, political side of Motown. Songs that used to just be fun to dance to or sing along to suddenly had deeper meaning. Stevie spoke to me just as much as my political consciousness developed as he had when I was learning to dance.

If there is one album that, above others, stands for Motown's political side, it is, of course, Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On." From start to finish, Marvin takes on the issues of the days in what really is one continuous meditation/anthem. Apparently, Berry Gordy argued vociferously with Marvin Gaye, asking him not to do this album. Gordy thought it would ruin Gaye's career. Up until this album, Marvin Gaye was known for his beautiful love songs and duets. But Marvin was adamant. He had taken a break from music for a couple of years after Tami Terrell, his collaborator and dear friend, died of a brain tumor, and this was the only album he was interested in making.

Thank goodness Marvin Gaye prevailed. This album is as relevant today as it was when it was released in 1971. It's sobering to realize that all of the issues that Marvin so beautifully and painfully illustrates are just as critical today as they were over thirty five years ago. War, the economy, ecology. I'm sure if he were alive today, the world we've created in the last couple of decades would still make him cry "mercy, mercy me."

This week, I'm getting ready to go to the inauguration of Barack Obama. Celebrating Motown's anniversary, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Obama's inauguration all in the same week is certainly significant. Amazing, really. But as centrist politician after centrist politician are named to the Obama administration, I find myself singing along with Marvin Gaye. We've certainly achieved some change, and we've got to celebrate, but we still need a lot of change. Real change. And we've got to continue to stand for that.

So this album is definitely going to be part of the soundtrack of my Obama inauguration experience. Once again, Motown, such a big part of the soundtrack of my life, and the soundtrack of life for so many of us. If you've lost your copy of this album and need Marvin to remind you what's going on, gimme a holler.