Quote of the Day

"'Trouble Man' is a song with a momentous feel to it. It’s operatic but in a jazzy way. It soars with sonic ambition. It’s a song that’s autobiographical, it’s about a character, perhaps Gaye, definitely a Black everyman. It’s a song about Black resilience in a world where problems are certain and thus captures what it means to be Black: we are nothing if not resilient. And there’s a heroically resolute steadfastness to the character speaking in 'Trouble Man.' He knows he can and must constantly hurdle trouble and he’s neither arrogant nor wearied by it."

-- Touré, in a column in Time, explaining why Marvin Gaye's brilliant Trouble Man would make a great Black National Anthem

Damn that would be cool. It'd certainly make us boring white people jealous. If we had a national anthem it'd probably be some Michael Bublé crap.

Listening Post

You can never get enough Marvin.

From his landmark performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1980, here's Trouble Man.

Listening Post

I posted this clip once before, last year, but as far as I'm concerned you can never get enough Marvin. So with that in mind, and with today being an especially appropriate day for the enduring message behind these songs, here's a rare live performance of What's Going On and What's Happening Brother -- by the late, great Marvin Gaye.

Listening Post

It just seems appropriate on so many different levels this morning.

From 1973, this is the great Marvin Gaye with a gorgeous live version of What's Going On/What's Happening Brother.