Have mercy
I am a huge fan of Marvin Gaye, and have been since very early days when a childhood fixation with Motown zeroed in particularly on his brilliant duets with Tammi Terrell, songs which still remain among my favourites today. Of course I know I am not alone as a fan of Marvin Gaye, how could you be for one of the most enduring artists of the twentieth century and one of soul music’s true greats? And when you begin to speak about affection for one of the greatest albums of all time, his 1971 opus “What’s Going On?”, the question of exclusivity is even more redundant.
And yet discuss it we must, but only in specifics. Because what I actually wanted to ruminate on today is a song from the album that is also widely famed, but which is truly astonishing, and perhaps my favourite from the album. Certainly when I hear it, this song is just one of those that I think is utterly stunning, a showcase for Gaye’s incredible voice, an instrument that honestly deserves the epithet beautiful. And a song also that, amongst all of the still relevant social issues raised on the album, perhaps has a more poignant prophetic quality than any other. The tune of course is “Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)”. Too trite for some perhaps, too simple lyrically for others, not deep enough, too similar to the title track musically.
All valid, but for me there is always something about the plaintive desire for man to care more for the planet which reverberates through Gaye’s voice, and which I just find utterly moving. And musically I think it deserves more praise than it gets. Motown’s brilliant backing singers The Andantes pull off a remarkable choral duty, echoing in a sense the cries of planet earth itself with an ethereal haunting, while the Funk Brothers imbue the instrumentation with a down-played funky tempo and perfectly smooth sound. Off-beat guitar chords, a wandering bass-line, echoed, almost doubled, snare, Wild Bill Moore’s distinctive sax break. And then there is Gaye’s leading piano and multi-layered vocal arrangement, and a performance that seems to flow and bleed into the very song itself.
The song almost has a free-form jazz element to it as well, especially its slightly off-kilter ending, and as I say simply melts me a little each time I hear it. Like I said at the start of this post, obviously I’m not alone in this view, but as I sit here in a slightly altered world, where an African-American of seemingly strong and true social and moral virtue stands at the precipice of real change, it is just a song that has floated across my mind a lot.
Not much might have changed, and who knows what the future will bring, but things ain’t what they used to be, no no. You kind of get the feeling that Marvin would have liked the hope though.
And yet discuss it we must, but only in specifics. Because what I actually wanted to ruminate on today is a song from the album that is also widely famed, but which is truly astonishing, and perhaps my favourite from the album. Certainly when I hear it, this song is just one of those that I think is utterly stunning, a showcase for Gaye’s incredible voice, an instrument that honestly deserves the epithet beautiful. And a song also that, amongst all of the still relevant social issues raised on the album, perhaps has a more poignant prophetic quality than any other. The tune of course is “Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)”. Too trite for some perhaps, too simple lyrically for others, not deep enough, too similar to the title track musically.
All valid, but for me there is always something about the plaintive desire for man to care more for the planet which reverberates through Gaye’s voice, and which I just find utterly moving. And musically I think it deserves more praise than it gets. Motown’s brilliant backing singers The Andantes pull off a remarkable choral duty, echoing in a sense the cries of planet earth itself with an ethereal haunting, while the Funk Brothers imbue the instrumentation with a down-played funky tempo and perfectly smooth sound. Off-beat guitar chords, a wandering bass-line, echoed, almost doubled, snare, Wild Bill Moore’s distinctive sax break. And then there is Gaye’s leading piano and multi-layered vocal arrangement, and a performance that seems to flow and bleed into the very song itself.
The song almost has a free-form jazz element to it as well, especially its slightly off-kilter ending, and as I say simply melts me a little each time I hear it. Like I said at the start of this post, obviously I’m not alone in this view, but as I sit here in a slightly altered world, where an African-American of seemingly strong and true social and moral virtue stands at the precipice of real change, it is just a song that has floated across my mind a lot.
Not much might have changed, and who knows what the future will bring, but things ain’t what they used to be, no no. You kind of get the feeling that Marvin would have liked the hope though.
posted by Twelve Bar at 7:14 PM
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