What's Happening Brother

Annotation

Marvin Gaye, born in Washington D.C. (2 April 1939), helped shape the sound of the Detroit-based Motown Records in the 1960s, and thus he became one of the most influential soul singers of the era. In the early 1970s with the album What's Going On, he worked on his own production, breaking away from the Motown team. It introduced the concept album to R&B, while it contained innovative music, using gospel, jazz, soul, and classical orchestration, as the songs flowed seamlessly together. In 1962 Gaye had released the single Soldier's Plea, which contained a patriotic message, with the soldier saying that "I'm over here fighting to keep us free" and "we all must do our share". These lyrics contrasted significantly with What's Going On, about the hell of war and mistreatment of veterans, and thus an excellent representation of how views on the war changed over a period of ten years, from 1962 to 1971. Also note that in 1972 Gaye recorded the song "I Want to Come Home for Christmas" about a Vietnam P.O.W., which took an anti-war perspective. The song "What's Happening Brother" (Tamla Records # TS-310), the second on this album, portrayed a man returning to the US from Vietnam and coming to terms with the changes in society. Marvin Gaye dedicated the song to his younger brother, who served in Vietnam for three years.1 The theme of the song would come to dominate post-Vietnam reflections on the war and veterans, and is thus one of the key songs of the Vietnam War. It is also one of the few Motown releases to provide a negative picture of the war, although many songs about the war had already been released on the label.2 Firstly, the veteran commented that "war is hell" and he wanted to know "when will it end". Then the veteran tried to re-integrate, such as asking questions about his baseball team - "will our ball club win the pennant?" - and whether people still hang out "where we used to go and dance". The song also looked at the veteran's financial difficulties: "can't find no work, can't find no job...money is tighter", reflecting the economic mistreatment of veterans.Sources1Wikipedia: What's Happening Brother↩2University of Michigan Library↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Annotation — Civil Rights Songs

Marvin Gaye, born in Washington D.C. (2 April 1939), helped shape the sound of the Detroit-based Motown Records in the 1960s, and thus he became one of the most influential soul singers of the era. In the early 1970s with the album What's Going On, he worked on his own production, breaking away from the Motown team. It introduced the concept album to R&B, while it contained innovative music, using gospel, jazz, soul, and classical orchestration, as the songs flowed seamlessly together. In 1962 Gaye had released the single Soldier's Plea, which contained a patriotic message, with the soldier saying that "I'm over here fighting to keep us free" and "we all must do our share". These lyrics contrasted significantly with What's Going On, about the hell of war and mistreatment of veterans, and thus an excellent representation of how views on the war changed over a period of ten years, from 1962 to 1971. Also note that in 1972 Gaye recorded the song "I Want to Come Home for Christmas" about a Vietnam P.O.W., which took an anti-war perspective. The song "What's Happening Brother" (Tamla Records # TS-310), the second on this album, portrayed a man returning to the US from Vietnam and coming to terms with the changes in society. Marvin Gaye dedicated the song to his younger brother, who served in Vietnam for three years.1 The theme of the song would come to dominate post-Vietnam reflections on the war and veterans, and is thus one of the key songs of the Vietnam War. It is also one of the few Motown releases to provide a negative picture of the war, although many songs about the war had already been released on the label.2 Firstly, the veteran commented that "war is hell" and he wanted to know "when will it end". Secondly, the veteran tried to re-integrate, such as asking questions about his baseball team - "will our ball club win the pennant?" - and whether people still hang out "where we used to go and dance". The song also looked at the veteran's financial difficulties: "can't find no work, can't find no job...money is tighter", reflecting the economic mistreatment of veterans. Although applied to all veterans, it also offered an African American perspective, and contained Civil Rights messaging: "when will people start gettin' together".Sources1Wikipedia: What's Happening Brother↩2University of Michigan Library↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Annotation — Soul, Gospel, & Funk Songs

Marvin Gaye, born in Washington D.C. (2 April 1939), helped shape the sound of the Detroit-based Motown Records in the 1960s, and thus he became one of the most influential soul singers of the era. In the early 1970s with the album What's Going On, he worked on his own production, breaking away from the Motown team. It introduced the concept album to R&B, while it contained innovative music, using gospel, jazz, soul, and classical orchestration, as the songs flowed seamlessly together. In 1962 Gaye had released the single Soldier's Plea, which contained a patriotic message, with the soldier saying that "I'm over here fighting to keep us free" and "we all must do our share". These lyrics contrasted significantly with What's Going On, about the hell of war and mistreatment of veterans, and thus an excellent representation of how views on the war changed over a period of ten years, from 1962 to 1971. Also note that in 1972 Gaye recorded the song "I Want to Come Home for Christmas" about a Vietnam P.O.W., which took an anti-war perspective. The song "What's Happening Brother" (Tamla Records # TS-310), the second on this album, portrayed a man returning to the US from Vietnam and coming to terms with the changes in society. Marvin Gaye dedicated the song to his younger brother, who served in Vietnam for three years.1 The theme of the song would come to dominate post-Vietnam reflections on the war and veterans, and is thus one of the key songs of the Vietnam War. It is also one of the few Motown releases to provide a negative picture of the war, although many songs about the war had already been released on the label.2 Firstly, the veteran commented that "war is hell" and he wanted to know "when will it end". Then the veteran tried to re-integrate, such as asking questions about his baseball team - "will our ball club win the pennant?" - and whether people still hang out "where we used to go and dance". The song also looked at the veteran's financial difficulties: "can't find no work, can't find no job...money is tighter", reflecting the economic mistreatment of veterans. Sources1Wikipedia: What's Happening Brother↩2University of Michigan Library↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: I'm just gettin' back, but you knew I would / War is hell, when will it end, when will people start gettin' together again / Are things really gettin' better, like the newspaper said / What else is new my friend, besides what I read / Can't find no work, can't find no job my friend / Money is tighter than it's ever been / Say man, I just don't understand, what's going on across this land / Ah what's happening brother / Oh ya, what's happening my man / Are they still gettin' down where we used to go and dance / Will our ball club win the pennant... / And tell me friend, how in the world have you been / Tell me what's out and I want to know what's in / What's the deal man, what's happening

About the artist

Born 2 April 1939, Washington, DC, USA. Died 1 April 1984, Los Angeles, California, USA

Themes

Soldier's Perspective

In collections

Civil Rights Songs · Peace, Protest, & Anti-War Songs [War Years] · Soul, Gospel, & Funk Songs