Analysis Of Marvin Gaye

In 1971, Marvin Gaye, a renowned Motown artist, published a concept album that would become a huge hit for both critics and casual listeners throughout the US. Written towards the end of the Vietnam War, What’s Going On would touch on subjects including war protests, unification of the American people, and the poor treatment of veterans. Gaye’s brother served in Vietnam, and much of this album shows the brother’s thoughts and feelings when he returns. Throughout his album, Marvin Gaye uses his own experiences to give us a look at why he and many others had a dissatisfaction with society and the government during the Vietnam War era in the United States.

With its evolving and unique sound, “Bohemian Rhapsody” by the British band Queen may be one of the strangest, most inspired and least-understood songs in the history of rock. Released on October 31, 1975 in the album A Night at the Opera, “Bohemian Rhapsody” became very popular, staying at the top of the UK Singles Chart for nine weeks and by the end of January, had more than a million copies sold. Freddie Mercury, the sole writer of this song, never disclaimed the song’s official meaning, but Brian May, the lead guitarist of the band, believes it is about his struggles in life and how he tried to get past society’s standards, for the lyrics progress through the central character’s understanding of the situations portrayed in the song.

Marvin Gaye composed “What's Going In”, along with fellow Motown songwriters, Al Cleveland and Renaldo "Obie" B Jenson. This song was released May 21, 1971 by Motown Records. Gaye was overwhelmed by the stories his brother, Frankie Gaye, was telling him about the tragedies he witnessed while serving in the Vietnam War. His song was more of questioning why these "tragedies" were occurring and basically stating we should love more and battle less. Gaye's lyrics proclaim, "picket lines picket signs, don't punish me with brutality," which is the American people protesting the Vietnam War and being against U.S. involvement in this war. Gaye feels as though we need more love and less war to solve this issue. He is seeking peace and happiness for all mankind.

"I can guarantee you one thing –we will never again agree on anything as we agreed on Elvis.” (Bangs 1) Elvis not only made significant contributions to the music industry, but he became the most famous idol across the world and in the U.S.A. Elvis Presley was regarded as one of most influential rock n’ roll performers of the century. If you say “The King of Rock” everyone will automatically know you are talking about Elvis Presley. Through his music, Elvis paved the road for African Americans to the music world, and he had essentially revolutionized American society and culture. He went against racism and began a whole new revolution for the music industry.

The scales of justice are rarely in balance. In “West of Memphis”, imperfection within the criminal justice system is used as a central theme. Imperfection can be defined as an unsatisfactory feature. Similarly, town fervor, which puts additional pressure on investigators to swiftly come up with answers, bible-belt politics, namely, devil worshiping, celebrity clout, which leads to freedom from prison, as result, show imperfection in the criminal justice system as a central theme.

Martin Luther King Jr, an civil rights activist, fought for the rights of African Americans in 1963. King organized various non-violent demonstrations in Birmingham, Alabama that resulted in his arrest. While in jail, King received a letter from eight Alabama clergyman explaining their distress and opposition to King and his followers actions. This letter occasioned his reply and caused King to write a persuasive letter justifying his actions and presence in Birmingham. Although King’s reply was addressed to the Alabama clergyman, its target audience was the “white moderate”. King understood that if he gained support from the average, indifferent white American that the civil rights movement would reach it’s goals much faster. In his

The novel, Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, explores some of the different types of relationships humans have during a lifetime. The main character Billy is only 19 years old. A naïve, yet wise young man. His travels and experiences have led him to a deeper understanding of some of the most intense and meaningful relationships in his life. This is a rare advantage at this age, to be so naïve yet so wise. I can relate to the character on certain levels, particularly on the types of relationships he develops. Like the character, I was 19 years old when I joined the US Navy. I was as naïve and green as Billy. My travels also led me to a deeper understanding of some intense, meaningful, and relationships in my life that I hold sacred. Does

I think the author wrote the ballad of birmingham to express what the feelings and thought was in the extreme horrible time it was for the city and many people that lived there .

Paul Laurence Dunbar is African-American poet who lived from in the late 1880s to the early 1900s. During his life, Dunbar wrote many poems, in both dialect and standard english. However, many of his poems are considered controversial now, due to negative racial stereotypes and dialect. Currently, some believe that Dunbar’s poetry perpetuates harmful stereotypes such as use of dialect; while others believe that it helps break racial stereotypes through the portrayed emotions. Dunbar’s dialect poetry is helpful for African-Americans, because it accurately depicts the experience of African Americans and humanizes them.

Controversial themes have always been explored in popular Black music. Because Black experiences influence Black mainstream culture (as with any culture), the social climate of historical eras influence how these themes are explored in popular culture, specifically in the form of music. The presence of controversial themes like racisms, sex and violence in black forms of music like the Blues, R&B/ Soul, Disco, Funk, and Hip-Hop are shaped by the happenings in the Black community during the time periods that each form was popular. Thus, the presence of such themes can be used to compare today’s popular culture, through Hip Hop and Contemporary R&B, with past popular culture, through

Through the creation of Motown records Berry Gordy changed the barrier between white and black americans and their music. Before Gordy come along to change the standards of american culture whites and blacks had different labels and music. Motown Records is the first record label to successfully market black artists to the white mainstream audience. (Dahl 12-15) Berry Gordy was the first African American to own a music label and have artists of different races on the same label. In the 1960s racial tension was a problem because of segregation and equal rights,“For the most part, black artists were forced to record on white-owned labels that regarded their work as novelties, one-offs and curiosities.” (Ross). When Gordy opened the record label it started to break down the tension between races. The reason the label opening broken down tention was because Gordy didn 't care about the color of their skin or where they come from.

After reading and analyzing Dr.Kings “Remaining Awake during a Revolution” commencement speech that he presented at Oberlin College during his graduation ceremony; he wanted the people to have a good visual on what he was explaining and talking about. King wanted to inform the people about what was going; so he used allusions, statics, and logos.

servant Uncle Remus (Weinman). Song of the South has never been released in North America and is no longer shown on television due to its use of offensive racial stereotypes regarding African Americans and racist language (Weinman). Uncle Remis the films protagonist lives on a plantation in what resembles the post-civil war period, although Disney never reveals the actual time period. Uncle Remis and all the ex-slaves in the film speak pidgin dialect or what some refer to as slave dialect a type of speech commonly associated with the slaves whom were not allowed to be educated and speak formally (Weinman).

Johnny Cash describes himself as a poor, hardworking American who works in a coal mine, just trying to live his life while barely scraping by. Mining coal is likely one of the only opportunities he was presented with, given the culture, location, and socioeconomic status he was born into. “I was born one mornin' when the sun didn't shine, I picked up my shovel and I walked to the mine.” This line makes it clear that he believes he was destined for the mines from the moment he was born. This is further suggested by, “I was born one mornin', it was drizzlin' rain, Fightin' and trouble are my middle name.”

Marvin Gaye grew up surrounded by the art of music. Born in the nations capital on April 2, 1939, Gaye’s ageless sounds and intriguing vocals still influence the world today. Gaye’s father, a minister in the Apostolic Church, played a foremost role in Marvin’s musical education. In fact, most of Marvin’s inspiration for religious topics came from the church music he grew up singing. Through the art of song, musical icon Marvin Gaye uses pathos, symbolism, and imagery with an objective to connect to listeners on tremendously personal levels.