Marvin Gaye
Here, My Dear

THE REVIEW

Detroit, June 28, 1990. About 50,000 people await him at Tiger Stadium. Welcomed by Rosa Parks, a civil rights icon, he climbs onto the stage, looks around, approaches the microphone, and says:

Mother, mother Madre, madre

There's too many of you crying Ci sono troppe di voi che piangono

Brother, brother, Fratello, fratello,

There's far too many of you dying Ci sono troppi di voi che stanno morendo

A shiver runs down the spine of the onlookers, everyone knows those verses written 19 years earlier by the prince of soul, Marvin Gaye, in his most famous album, already magnificently reviewed on Debaser.

Then he continues and utters words that are still relevant today: "To be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.. (Nelson Mandela)

Great men make great strides…

Even great men, however, harbor negative feelings. You all know the story, so I'll summarize it briefly. She, Anna Gordy, 39 years old, sister of Berry, founder and absolute owner of Motown. He, Marvin Gaye, 22 years old, a budding singer. They marry. A child is born. Repeated infidelities. He falls in love with another. Divorce. Alimony payment: the proceeds of Marvin's next album or $600,000. Marvin chooses the proceeds.

Marvin, as the perfect husbandsonof…inlovewithanother(bitch) decides to make both his wife and brother-in-law pay, his initial idea is a very expensive double album for Motown that must be a huge commercial flop, in which he reveals to everyone the darkest sides of his marriage. In short, a double take, after all, it is known, in war and love everything is permissible. Everything really is permissible, I know something about it myself... I don't know how many of you are divorced, I am. At 22 I got married and moved to a big city in the north, I was madly in love, two children were born who are my life. Then it ended with him shouting at me: anyone who falls in love with another and is married is nothing but a big bitch. It's a brand that was burned into me, I couldn't get rid of it. The loneliness, wandering for months without direction, with headphones on and a single thought… But let's not digress, very likely Marvin felt the same when he started composing Here, my dear.

Then something changes during the work.

The title remains the same, "Here, my dear" (is there a need for translation?), the initial words also "I guess I should say this album is dedicated to you. Although perhaps you may not be happy with it…", the music no, changes, oh how they change.

Artistically, after the enormous success of What's going on and Let's Get It On, Marvin was no longer able to replicate it, he was in love and wrote languid and sugary love songs for his beloved(bitch). In Here my dear he decides to abandon the "sexy disco" genre and explore new melodies, add orchestrations…

This is where genius takes over, Marvin realizes he is incapable of writing mediocre songs, begins to analyze even the best moments of his marriage, becomes passionate about the work and writes with all his soul and heart.

The idea of a concept album is born, in which he describes with music human feelings, the same feelings he experienced during the years of marriage. Then comes the slow and very sweet love at first sight of I met a little girl, with a warm and honeyed voice up to the point where he sings:

"We thought our love would stand the test of time and, while I sing this song, right now, I wonder, today, if you are my friend"

Here he manages to insert such a melancholic tone that you can understand the change of feelings, the falling out of love is over, all in one song…

Next is the masterpiece of When Did You Stop Loving Me, When Did I Stop Loving You a sexy soul ballad fascinating and perfect, with choruses, horns and 6 minutes of bitterness and regrets in music, in a few words the pain.

How not to mention Anger (anger), A Funky Space Reincarnation, which makes you tap your foot to the rhythm of funky, a piece evidently memorized by a certain Prince who would learn the lesson well many years later. It continues with hope, fear, love, failures, self-pity in Is That Enough over 7 minutes of marital bickering with a languid sax solo and jazzy finale.

Here my dear is all pervaded by a spectacular range of emotions: exhilaration, anger, regret, atonement, shame, playfulness, hope, spiced with jazz, soul, funky and disco. Even today it is very current, a work that profoundly influenced the funky-soul genre, injecting it with new life, opening new paths, thus finding new followers with music to dance to, absorb, and listen to attentively. The word/music mix ensures that it is not an easy work, in fact, at the time of release it was Marvin’s least sold album in the '70s.

Gaye declared he made the album "out of deep passion, I sang and sang until I drained myself of everything I had lived through". This affair cost Marvin dearly, karma should not be trifled with. He declared bankruptcy, lived in a van, attempted suicide multiple times, separated from his second wife, and was shot dead by his father…

Funny, recording an album seeking a commercial flop, then striving to make it a masterpiece (succeeding), but not being understood by the public. Only later with lavish reissues did it reach number 1 in sales, obviously after his tragic death…