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BY LUIS BUENAFLOR
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Wednesday, November 29, 2017
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Whoa, ah, mercy mercy me
Oh things ain’t what they used to be, no no
where did all the blue skies go?
Poison is the wind that blows from the north and south and east
Whoa mercy, mercy me
Oh things ain’t what they used to be, no no
Oil wasted on the oceans and upon our seas, fish full of mercury
Ah, oh mercy, mercy me
Ah things ain’t what they used to be, no no
Radiation underground and in the sky
Animals and birds who live nearby are dying
Oh mercy, mercy me
Oh things ain’t what they used to be
What about this overcrowded land
How much more abuse from man can she stand?
— songwriter/performer – Marvin Gaye
DURING the ‘70s words like “ecology” and “environment” were practically nonexistent in mainstream lingua franca. It was not even a concept and people usually don’t talk much less care about it. As far as most people are concerned, “the ecology” and the “environment” are something only “hippies” talk or do something about.
Do we need to define “ecology” and “environment”? Today moi supposes not but during the ‘70s if one were to talk or write about it you have to explain what those “high fallutin” words mean.
Imagine this: an already established R&B singer/songwriter came out with a song about the environment and the ecology which didn’t sit well with his music producer.
From Songfacts.com:
Many years before global warming became a hot topic, Marvin Gaye wrote this song about the environment and how we have an obligation to care for the Earth.
For his “What’s Going On album” (1971), Gaye got away from love ballads and explored deeper social themes, which at first didn’t sit well with Motown boss Berry Gordy who thought these songs wouldn’t be marketable. The success of the title track proved otherwise, and “Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)” became a #1 R&B hit and soared to #4 on the Billboard Pop chart.
From that free online encyclopedia:
“Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)” was the second single from Marvin Gaye’s 1971 album, “What’s Going On.” Following the breakthrough of the title track’s success, the song, written solely by Gaye, became regarded as one of popular music’s most poignant anthems of sorrow regarding the environment. Led by Gaye playing piano, strings conducted by Paul Riser and David Van De Pitte, multi-tracking vocals from Gaye and The Andantes, multiple background instruments provided by The Funk Brothers and a leading sax solo by Wild bill Moore, the song rose to No. 4 on Billboard’s Pop Singles chart and number one for two weeks on the R&B Singles charts on Aug. 14 through to Aug. 27, 1971. The distinctive percussive sound heard on the track was a wood block struck by a rubber mallet, drenched in studio reverb. The song also brought Gaye one of his rare appearances on the Adult Contemporary chart, where it peaked at No. 34.
According to Earl Van Dyke of Motown’s house band the Funk Brothers, Motown boss Berry Gordy did not know what the word “ecology” meant when he heard this song. It had to be explained to him. And this little trivia best illustrates the fact that “ecology” and “environment” were alien words and concepts to most people then.
This song mourns the destruction of the environment in a modernized society. Oil catastrophes, radioactive waste, and overpopulation.
It was recorded in 1971, when the public’s awareness of environmentalism was just starting. Imagine how mortified Gaye would have been if he had seen what was going to happen to the environment during the next 40 years.
Well, Marvin Gaye’s lamentations proved prophetic indeed as from the time the song was recorded and was released the ecology and the environment of Planet Earth went from bad to worst.
Come to think of it the air and the rivers were much cleaner then compared to today, people took it for granted and never expected than decades later that apathy towards the environment would eventually start destroying the ecology or what’s left of it.
Marvin Gaye was a pioneer eco-warrior, he was probably the first major recording artist who risked his career to bring out his message about what’s happening to out ecology and the environment.
From being revolutionary, concern for the ecology and the environment has become mainstream today; “Oh things ain’t what they used to be.” (brotherlouie16@gmail.com/PN)
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