What's Going On (song) - Critical Reception

Critical Reception

The song was reviewed by Slant magazine as a song that presented a contradictory sound, with the song's mournful tone going in contrast to the party atmosphere of the vocal chatter. In reviewing the What's Going On album, Rolling Stone critic Vince Aletti stated that while the song's lyrics were "hardly brilliant", the song itself helped to set the mood for the rest of the album, and that "without overreaching they capture a certain aching dissatisfaction that is part of the album's mood."

"What's Going On" was nominated for two Grammy Awards in 1972 including Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s), but failed to win in any of the categories. In 2004 and 2010, the song was ranked #4 on the Rolling Stone list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time", making it the highest Marvin Gaye song on the list. In 1999, music writers Paul Gambaccini and Kevin Howlett listed the song #74 on BBC Radio 2's Songs of the Century. In 2003, Q magazine placed the song 64th out of its 1001 Best Songs Ever. In 2004, the Detroit music newspaper Metro Times named it the #1 "Greatest Detroit Song of All Time" out of 100 songs on the list. It also reached #14 on VH-1's 100 Greatest Rock Songs of All Time. In March 2012, New Musical Express named it the #33 Greatest 1970s song on their list.