What’s Going On; Questioning a Tumultuous Time The 1960s were a tumultuous time in American history. This period consisted of many political events and movements such as the Vietnam War, the struggle for racial and gender equality, the hippie movement, and mass anti-government protests among many other things. Countless artists utilized their public platforms to speak out on the issues of the time and to vocalize their opinions. Singer-songwriter Marvin Gaye was no exception. In his song “What’s Going On,” Gaye questions the problems of the time and asserts that love is the only adequate and fulfilling solution. Gaye’s purpose is to convince people that hate is conducive to hate and therefore, love is the only tolerable pathway to solving the immense societal differences of the times. He adopts an inquisitive and desperate tone in order to convey to his listeners that the war, killings, and violence is damaging to society and only pulls people apart. Gaye effectively takes a political stance and utilizes ethos, pathos, logos, and stylistic devices to promote love.
First, in his song, Gaye discusses the issues of the time by touching on his own experience. He establishes ethos with his listeners and therefore is credible to speak on this subject. Gaye’s begins his protest by revealing his personal connection to the times and the troubles. He demonstrates his connection in the 3rd and 4th lines by singing “Brother, brother, brother / There’s far too many of you dying.” Gaye’s brother was drafted to fight in the Vietnam War. He exploits this fact in order to signify that he, just as everyone else, has a personal connection to the issue at hand. His personal connection gives him credibility on the issue. Further, Gaye was an African American; therefore he suffered from the racial inequality of the time. He appeals to the unfairness and connects to the audience by sharing his first-hand experience. Gaye sings “picket lines and picket signs / Don’t punish me with brutality.” He does this in order to establish credibility and respect. Protestors of the time were often subjected to violence, and Gaye demonstrates that he was no exception. Additionally, he proves that he is affected by hate of the time too, and is just like everyone else. This connection greatly enhances Gaye’s ethos and therefore makes his message more reputable and valid. Gaye incorporates personal examples into his lyrics to make himself more relatable to his audience. Gaye effectively incorporates his own experiences in order to gain credibility about the issue at hand and gives his solution validity.
Second, Gaye crafts a genuine and sorrowful tone to emphasize his feelings and to create an emotional appeal to his audience, thus demonstrating pathos. In the second stanza, Gaye proclaims that “For only love can conquer hate / You know we’ve got to find a way / To bring some lovin’ here today.” Gaye uses the word “love” numerous times throughout his song. The word “love” is a very powerful word that evokes raw emotion in almost all settings. Everyone knows what love is and it plays a role in everyone’s lives; therefore, it is meaningful to all. Gaye uses the word in such a broad way and encourages everyone to love one another, not just a certain group of people at a certain time. Further, this line, along with many others, exposes a tone of desperation and longing. Not only can you hear it in his voice, the words itself demonstrates it. He encourages the audience to love today, addressing the urgency of the issue and the power of love. In addition, he adopts a sorrowful tone in order for the audience to feel the same pain as his and for them to realize the sense of unity that they have. He is clearly desperate to put an end to everyone’s suffering.
Next, Gaye also utilizes pathos when he talks about family. At many points throughout the song, Gaye sings “brother brother… mother mother… father father...” When he does this, Gaye is showing his personal connection and he is connecting with his audience on a further level. Family is a deeply emotional word and subject, and Gaye calls upon his listeners to think of their families when singing this song. His lyrics evoke a great deal of emotion because family is something that everyone can connect with and cherishes. It forces his listeners to think with their heart and mind and realize that they want a loving and peaceful world for their family as well. Gaye’s use of pathos and tone is brilliant in the way that it brings all his listeners together and makes love all encompassing and for everyone. This greatly aids his main idea of utilizing love to solve all the desperate problems of today’s world. Third, Gaye simplifies and counters the problems of the time, by solving them with logic and love, demonstrating an effective use of logos. Gaye spends a great amount of time questioning and wondering about the immense societal problems of the 1960s. However, he provides a simple and logical solution that can solve the entirety of the problems, love. In the second stanza, Gaye sings “We don’t need to escalate / You see,War is not the answer.” He persists that war and hate are not the answers and will only further the complications. Then, he attempts to unify his audience by the simple, logical idea of love. Gaye effectively illustrates that there is a better and easier answer to solve the problem. Although incredibly simple, Gaye utilizes logos to establish and promote a painless and straightforward solution to solve everyone’s problems. The song and Gaye’s emphasis of love may seem short and repetitive. However, it is effective because it take an enormous problem and suggests an elementary solution. The conciseness is effective and meaningful--love solves all the problems.
Fourth, Gaye utilizes a multitude of stylistic approaches to stress the importance of incorporating love into society and expelling the hate. One of the most obvious is the use of repetition. Throughout the song, Gaye questions “what’s going on” over and over as a refrain in the song and titled the song the same. He repeats the question in order to show the urgency and importance of the problem. The question is very broad, and therefore requires the reader to ponder. Also, since it is so broad, it encompasses all the issues of the time, not just the war. The issues of the time, such as war and inequality, were complex and deeply embedded into society and did not have easy or quick solutions. Since the question does not have an immediate solution, it evokes a certain amount of fear in the uncertainty of the times. This emotion is exemplified through his questioning, he explains his desires for things to change and how society can change if we all love one another. Gaye also utilizes repetition when he discusses the idea of love. Many times throughout the song he explains the concept of love conquering hate. Gaye does this in order to emphasize his overarching theme and goal, to bring more love into society and less hate. He is effective because he calls for a great amount of attention to be paid to the word when he discusses it over and over. The repetition enhances the meaning of his message and demonstrates his priority in the world and that the problems of the time cannot be ignored. Another notable stylistic choice Gaye includes is his diction. Gaye utilizes slang and abbreviated words when singing “... to bring some lovin’ here today” to reach his audience. This implies that love is for everyone and anyone, not just a certain group of people. He also uses very inclusive language. Gaye sings “you know we’ve got to find a way” at multiple points throughout the song. He uses we instead of I to be inclusive of all people. This language solidifies the fact that everyone is together and wants the same things. His inclusive tone aids his message by drawing everyone in and encouraging people to come together. Also, it connects Gaye, a famous musician, to the common people that are listening to the song. It shows that he is no different than anyone else and just wants love. Gaye utilizes common and inclusive language in order to promote his yearnings for love and incorporation. As a famous musician, Marvin Gaye used his public platform to comment on the political and social issues of the 1960s. In “What’s Going On,” Gaye questions the events of the times and the unnecessary hardships people were facing. Gaye effectively utilized ethos, pathos, logos, and stylistic devices to shun the war and hate and to promote equality and love in society.