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"My partners told me it was a protest song", Benson said. He later discussed what he witnessed with friend and songwriter Al Cleveland, who soon wrote and composed a song to reflect Benson's worries.īenson wanted to give the song to his group, but the other Four Tops turned it down. 'Why are they sending kids so far away from their families overseas? Why are they attacking their own children in the streets?'". Upset by the incident, Benson told author Ben Edmonds the he asked, 'What is happening here?'. While there, Benson witnessed police brutality and violence in the city's People's Park during a protest held by anti-war activists, in what was described later as 'Bloody Thursday'.
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The song's inspiration came from Benson, a member of the Motown group the Four Tops, after their tour bus arrived at Berkeley on May 15, 1969. Gaye's lyrics explore themes of racism, drug abuse, poverty, and the Vietnam War. The narrative in the songs is told from the point of view of a Vietnam veteran returning to his home country to witness hatred, suffering, and injustice.
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The album is a concept album, with most of its songs mixing into the next, and has been categorized as a song cycle. It was the title track of his album What's Going On?, released in May 1971. The song marked Gaye's departure from the Motown Sound of his previous output, towards more personal material. The song was co-written by Renaldo 'Obie' Benson, Al Cleveland, and Marvin Gaye, and produced by Gaye himself. Obie Benson (second from left) with The Four Tops. Here's the history of one of the most important songs of the 20th century, 50 years on: Marvin Gaye co-wrote 'What's Going On' about the issues of the time, but little did he know that over 30 years after his death, tragically it still sounds as if it could have been written yesterday.