{"id":1594,"date":"2019-04-02T04:19:24","date_gmt":"2019-04-02T04:19:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gcornish.digitalscholar.rochester.edu\/mhs123_spring2019\/?p=1594"},"modified":"2019-04-02T04:19:24","modified_gmt":"2019-04-02T04:19:24","slug":"whats-going-on-the-eternal-question","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gcornish.digitalscholar.rochester.edu\/mhs123_spring2019\/uncategorized\/whats-going-on-the-eternal-question\/","title":{"rendered":"Whats going on?…the eternal question."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Whats going on?\u2026the eternal question.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s Going On?\u201d<\/strong> … a question once asked 48 years ago, still rings out loud and clear. It\u2019s a question that can prompt many different responses, yet it does not just target or point to one answer. This question holds the power to be answered by many in hopes only to bring awareness of your surroundings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On May 21, 1971 Motown records released the legendary album, \u201cWhat\u2019s Going On\u201d by Marvin Gaye. This record pushed boundaries being one of the first of its kind. For Motown records, \u201cWhat\u2019s Going On\u201d was the first record to print and give credit to all 39 working musicians who were recorded on the album. It was also a first for Motown in the category of a concept album: an album that revolves around a story or message from beginning to end. Artist such as Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder were some of the pioneers on the Motown label who pushed for a bigger say as an artist and strived for their personal opinions to be heard. https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-album-reviews\/whats-going-on-251498\/<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marvin\u2019s first big success was with his rendition of \u201cI heard it through the grapevine\u201d in 1968. After reaching top of the charts, Marvin shortly became a recluse from the music world in response to his close friend Tammi Terrell\u2019s death. The most famous recording of theirs being \u201cAint no mountain high enough\u201d. Around the same time, Marvin\u2019s brother Frankie returned home from Vietnam forcing a new perspective on Marvin. He noticed something was different about Frankie. This new outlook and awareness of the world helped to fuel the upcoming album, \u201cWhat\u2019s Going On\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“What’s Going On” served as an anthem of social awareness.\u201d <\/strong><\/a> <\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In reaction to the world around him, Marvin strived to speak the truth and ask others to be aware of the world around them in hopes to improve the situations at hand, \u201cI know is what I know and what I feel I know is truth to me, and that is how I live\u201d .<\/a>The album itself touches upon issues of the violence and the Vietnam war, pollution of the earth, urban life, and stresses the importance of youth in our nation hoping to preserve the future.  Marvin felt he was speaking on be-half of many. He believed in the power of his music and voice in order to expose the observations of life and the conditions of the country. However, through that power he was careful in a sense to not force a right or wrong. In a sense he was only asking for people to take a look a round and \u201cfind a way\/ to bring some lovin\u2019 here today\u201d.
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“It happened through divinity; it was divine.\u201d<\/strong><\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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