Jimmy Carter, Mavin Gaye, the 1970's & Today?
In the past, I reviewed my favorite songs of the 1970's. In fact, they weren't even my favorite. I just thought they were emblematic of the decade. While I did include a Marvin Gaye song in that mix, I really should've just talked about his 1971 album What's Going On . What's Going On is a perfect, free flowing, jazz inspired and soul delivered document on the 1970's. Notice the lack of punctuation in the tile-Marvin is not asking what is happening, he is singing it to us. Much like the movie Taxi Driver , nothing really captures the hungover spirit of the 1970's more than this album. The idealism of the 1960's had faded, Vietnam veterans began to flock home, the world was first becoming aware of environmental problems, and the zeal for civil rights had faded into a mere exhausted breath. The 1970's was a decade of moral stagnation and over indulgence. I think Jimmy Carter was absolutely right when he declared in 1976, to much public outcry,...