whats goin' on...

What’s going on (traducción libre de ROF)
Madre, madre, hay demasiadas llorando,
Hermano, hermano, hay demasiados de ústedes muriendo,
Sabes tenemos que encontrar la manera
De traer un poco de amor aquí hoy, jei..

Padre, padre, no tenemos que escalar
Ves, la guerra no es la respuesta, ya que solo el amor puede al odio ganar
Sabes tenemos que encontrar la manera
De traer un poco de amor aquí hoy, jei..

Líneas de piquete- hermana-
y rótulos de piquete- hermana
No me castigues- hermana-
con brutalidad- hermana
Háblame- hermana-
para que puedas ver- hermana
Oh, lo que está pasando- lo que está pasando-
lo que está pasando Yeah, lo que está pasando-
lo que está pasando- lo que está pasando
Ah ahh- ay- ay- ay- ay- ay- pa’ encima- pa’encima- ay- ay- ay- ay- ay

Madre, madre, todos creen que estamos mal
Oh pero quiénes son ellos para juzgarnos
Simplemente no le gusta nuestro pelo y forma de andar
Oh, sabes que tenemos que encontrar la manera
De traer algún entendimiento aquí hoy

Oh, oh, oh, Líneas de piquete- hermano-
y rótulos de piquete- hermano
No me castigues- hermano-
con brutalidad- hermano
Háblame- hermano-
para que puedas ver- hermano
Ahora, lo que está pasando- lo que está pasando-
yeah, lo que está pasando- lo que está pasando-
lo que está pasando- lo que está pasando
Dime lo que está pasando- lo que está pasando-
Te diré lo que está pasando- lo que está pasando-
Ooooh- lo que está pasando- lo que está pasando
(M. Gaye/A. Cleveland/R. Benson) 1971.

What's Going On is not only Marvin Gaye's masterpiece, it's the most important and passionate record to come out of soul music, delivered by one of its finest voices, a man finally free to speak his mind and so move from R&B sex symbol to true recording artist. With What's Going On, Gaye meditated on what had happened to the American dream of the past — as it related to urban decay, environmental woes, military turbulence, police brutality, unemployment, and poverty. These feelings had been bubbling up between 1967 and 1970, during which he felt increasingly caged by Motown's behind-the-times hit machine and restrained from expressing himself seriously through his music. Finally, late in 1970, Gaye decided to record a song that the Four Tops' Obie Benson had brought him, "What's Going On." When Berry Gordy decided not to issue the single, deeming it uncommercial, Gaye refused to record any more material until he relented. Confirmed by its tremendous commercial success in January 1971, he recorded the rest of the album over ten days in March, and Motown released it in late May.

As a result, Gaye released What's Going On in 1971, becoming one of the most memorable soul albums of the time and notable for including elements of jazz and classical music. The record was the first soul record to place emphasis on political and social concerns such as environmentalism, political corruption, drug abuse, and the Vietnam War.

Conceived as a statement from the viewpoint of a Vietnam veteran (Gaye's brother Frankie had returned from a three-year hitch in 1967), What's Going On isn't just the question of a baffled soldier returning home to a strange place, but a promise that listeners would be informed by what they heard (that missing question mark in the title certainly wasn't a typo). Instead of releasing listeners from their troubles, as so many of his singles had in the past, Gaye used the album to reflect on the climate of the early '70s, rife with civil unrest, drug abuse, abandoned children, and the spectre of riots in the near past.