3. What’s Going On
Marvin Gaye’s 1971 song was originally inspired by Renaldo ‘Obie’ Benson’s witnessing of Bloody Thursday, one of many examples of police brutality and violence against anti-war activists peacefully protesting at the time. After discussing his experience with songwriter Al Cleveland, both of them teamed up with Gaye and ended up shaping what we know nowadays as “What’s Going On”. Plenty was going on in America during the early 70’s, and Gaye’s song will forever remind us of that.
