# Marvin Gaye — What's Going On Marvin Gaye’s What's Going On (1971) appears on 3 of our lists — Soul, The Waxonia Desk — One Subject, and The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred, highest at No. 1 in Soul. Every verdict, in full. - **Released:** 1971 - **Label:** Tamla - **On:** Soul, The Waxonia Desk — One Subject, and The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred - **Updated:** 2026-08-29 - **Artist:** [Marvin Gaye](https://waxonia.com/artist/marvin-gaye/) - **Canonical page:** https://waxonia.com/track/marvin-gaye--whats-going-on/ ## What 3 lists say ### No. 1 in [Soul](https://waxonia.com/genre/soul/) Motown's biggest star refused to make another Motown record and was proved right within a month. A protest song that sounds like a conversation at a party, and the label's finest hour was the one it tried to prevent. ### Picked by [The Waxonia Desk — One Subject](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-one-subject/) The obvious one, and four decades of broadcasting have made it harder to hear rather than easier. A record everybody agrees about is a difficult thing to keep alive. ### Picked by [The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/) A protest record that sounds like a conversation at a party. Its label tried to stop it, which is usually the sign. ## Analysis 6 sections, the first drop at 0:07, 3% of the way in. - **Tempo:** 103.4 BPM — holds throughout - **Dynamic range:** 5.2 dB — moderate range, typical of a modern master - **Length:** 3:56 - `0:00` A · **intro**, sung — opens the record below its own average energy — playing: drums, bass, vocals, other - `1:09` B · **peak** (bar 30), sung — sits at the top of this record's range — playing: drums, bass, vocals, other - `1:28` C · **peak** (bar 38), sung — sits at the top of this record's range — playing: drums, bass, vocals, other - `2:14` D · **peak** (bar 58), sung — sits at the top of this record's range — playing: drums, bass, vocals, other - `3:01` C · **peak** (bar 78), sung — sits at the top of this record's range — playing: drums, bass, vocals, other - `3:42` E · **outro** (bar 96), instrumental — the closing fall **Drop** at 0:07 (bar 3). A drop is a moment, not a stretch. **What is playing.** Separated into parts by a source-separation model, so each lane is the instrument it names. - **drums:** the drum kit, separated from the mix - **bass:** the bass part, separated from the mix - **vocals:** the voice, separated from the mix - **other:** everything else — synths, guitars, keys, strings Measured from the YouTube master on 2026-08-29. Section labels describe how the energy moves, not musical form. Anything we were not confident enough to state is omitted rather than hedged. ## Listen [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Marvin%20Gaye%20What's%20Going%20On) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=KDK7TiEiMOI) --- Hand-curated by Waxonia. We host no audio; all links point to streaming platforms.