What's Going On (track)
by Marvin Gaye
Year: 1971
From the album What's Going On (track #1)
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What's Going On appears on the following album(s) by Marvin Gaye:
- What's Going On (track #1) (this album) (1971)
- Marvin Gaye Live! (track #9) (1974)
- The Master (1961-1984) (track #55) (compilation) (1995)
- The Very Best Of Marvin Gaye (track #20) (compilation) (2001)
- Marvin Gaye's Greatest Hits (track #6) (compilation) (1976)
- Every Great Motown Hit Of Marvin Gaye (track #8) (compilation) (1983)
- Anthology (track #35) (compilation) (1974)
- Greatest Hits (track #10) (compilation) (1983)
- The Hits Of Marvin Gaye (track #3) (compilation) (1972)
- Compact Command Performances: 15 Greatest Hits (track #8) (compilation) (1983)
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What's Going On ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.
Showing latest 5 ratings for this track. | Show all 559 ratings for this track.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Track ratings | Avg. track rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 08/03/2026 14:28 | Leginlists | 615 | 84/100 |
| ! | 05/15/2026 21:01 | wizardalien | 9,921 | 61/100 |
| ! | 02/19/2026 21:49 | CJMishellsan | 1,240 | 94/100 |
| ! | 01/18/2026 16:34 | Robert_fripp | 899 | 86/100 |
| ! | 01/14/2026 04:04 | AbsurdCheesecake | 1,614 | 90/100 |
Rating metrics:
Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some tracks can have several thousand ratings)
This track is rated in the top 1% of all tracks on BestEverAlbums.com. This track has a Bayesian average rating of 91.8/100, a mean average of 91.2/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 92.1/100. The standard deviation for this track is 12.2.
What's Going On favourites
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What's Going On comments
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The greatest soul / rnb song of all time
A huge song in every sense of the word.
corenfro 01/25/2020 22:27 | #247174
Probably the greatest song ever written. Can you hear the bass line? If not eat rice and beans and save up your $ and buy new headphones or speakers and listen to every note and memorize it. If you are a music producer of any kind and you do not understand everything about how this song works then you have work to do.
Don't even try to replicate the vocals because it's not going to happen.
Amazing
neilgee 09/12/2015 16:49 | #149585
A classic opening to a classic album from the moment that sax breaks in...
It could very well be the greatest song ever written.
Anti 05/14/2014 17:07 | #111784
My absolute favorite R&B song of All Time. It does sum up the whole album, but isn't that what opening tracks should do? Masterpiece.
tgarritsen 11/16/2013 17:00 | #92900
This song alone sums up the whole album
An excellent beginning to the album.
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