The Song of the month コメント集 Jan. #2
Artist: Marvin Gaye
Title: Mercy Mercy Me
Comment: This song looks like a poem because one phrase is repeated again and again./ The singer worries about the earth, and is sad about pollution of the earth. He cares about an environment of the earth. His voice is very comfortable. He sings this song sadly. The lyrics are very simple./ The writer wants to tell about environmental destruction or ecology. However, this song has fresh mood./ I noticed that the song has cheerful rhythm in the part where the singer sings and has melancholic rhythm in the part near the end of the song./ The author looked for hopes because all world’s conditions were very bad./ I am impressed that the rhythm is cheerful but the lyrics contain serious meanings./ I’ve heard this song before but I thought about the words for the first time. I always thought that this was a happy song but this time I learned that it wasn’t. It sings about environmental pollution./ This song is a hope that we could protect the environment from destruction./ I think that “me” in “mercy mercy me” is not the one person. This might mean all people living today./ I like “Oh, mercy mercy me.” I have heard it before and I missed something I cannot remember./ I found that the artist’s voice was somewhat sorrowful./ The author warns that environmental pollution is very serious for the earth. We must solve it at once for the better world./ This song is about the opposite of world peace. The writer hopes for the world peace./ Although I feel that the melody is very comfortable, the words have a lot of poison. They may be asking us if everything that the earth has is decaying./ I think this song is about environmental pollution. I failed to catch all lyrics./ The song may be singing about saving the earth. So, I think the writer insists that mankind and creatures defend the earth from poison. Then, he wish for mercy for “her,” the earth./ The words used in the song are quite easy while they show profound meanings of the current world. / I hope for the peaceful world where people will smile hand in hand with each other. We have not yet realized such a world. This world is covered with deep darkness of pollution./ This song seems to claim that this world is full of sorrow and pain. They pray to God for world peace./ This song appeals how devastating the environment of the earth is. The start of the song is cheerful, but the end of it is gloomy./ It’s a song about the earth’s environment. It tells us how troubled the singer is by the lines “oh, mercy mercy me”. You can see how the sea, sky and ground are polluted./ The song laments environmental pollution. The singer thanks mercy by the earth./ I couldn’t get every word of this song. So, the only meaning I could understand is that this song is about ecology. I guess so from the words, “oil”, “poison”, “mercury” and “dying”./ This song needs our full imagination because it has many metaphors. This song repeats “mercy” and I want to know how important this word is and what meaning it has in the song. I think this song sings about a recent American society./ I felt the author’s sadness about the society and himself./ This song must be about war. This song doesn’t sound bright./ I’ve heard this song on TV before. This song and its structure sounds strange./ I vaguely understand what the song wants to convey. Marvin wanted us to reflect on human conducts./ The environment has still been destroyed in the 30 years since this song had been made public./ The “she” in the last part of the song symbolizes the earth./ This song is trying to give us a warning against environmental problems. While the melody is rather soft, the song and the way the singer sings seems to reflect the circumstances of what the lyrics mean./ I’m frightened of the melody for the last part, which was an descending scale./ Marvin Gaye appealed to us to clean the environment./ I think that “where did all the blue skies go?” means peace was gone after the war./ This song impresses “mercy me” on us with refrain.// The rhythm is so comfortable that I feel as if I was flying, but this song gives a serious motive./ I guess the author sings about environmental problems and appeals to us to clean the earth./ I just caught fragments of the lyrics. His voice is so clear as to calm down people. I want to listen to this song to relax. / I like the song because the title of the song and our group name are the same. Marvin’s clear voice goes well with the music./ The singer worried about a variety of problems on the earth. He warned not to waste precious materials./ I felt the sound was soft while the content was not mild. / First, my impression was sunny but near the ending, the melody was sorrowful. Reading the lyrics carefully, I understood why I felt so./ I think of Mother Earth./ This song appeals to us to take back the beauty of the earth. This songwriter is sad because the earth is polluted. The singer is asking for forgiveness for the dirty world we live in, caused by human beings./ The singer tells how much harm we are doing to the earth by polluting the soil, air and water./ I’ve heard this song somewhere but this so complicated that I have trouble taking in what he means. From this song, I can imagine a bar in the evening./ The author appeals for the awareness of environmental destruction. She warned us not to dirty the nature. / This song describes environmental problems./ This song felt all the more sorrowful because the singer sings about serious matters merrily./ The atmosphere of the song is clear and fresh. However, in the lyrics, there are negative words about environmental pollution. This contrast makes us think about “saving the earth” more./ I couldn’t catch the lyrics, but I understood that the song is about an environmental problem. I can tell so by the phrase “fish full of mercury”. Mercury isn’t good for fish or people./ I’m surprised to know that there has been environmental pollution for such a long time./ I hardly caught any word for Task 1, but I can assume that this song is about the earth and nature. The singer is calling God to help and save the situation. He is grieving at the present situation./ I see this song is about environmental problems./ The song has two messages. One is pollution of nature. The other is human’s evil mind./ First, when I listened to this song, I thought it was a cheerful song. But I know what the lyrics mean, and it doesn’t sound cheerful, but sad. People pray for forgiveness from the earth./ I feel vaguely that this is not a smug song. That is why this song has inspired a lot of people./ This song appeals to us about every problem, such as distress and sadness, around the world./ Marvin Gaye sang about environmental pollution. I guess he cared about the time they were living in./ The song had been written way before I was born. The theme of the song reminds us of problems in the modern world. The introduction of the song is very gentle and cheerful, but the ending melody becomes dark./ The song sounds sorrowful./ I’ve heard this song before. The sad thing is that the earth environment is injured./ People want fish who live in the seas or rivers that they pollute to forgive them./ The lyrics let us feel the atmosphere of freedom. The lively melody adds to the effect on this./ The singer must be appealing. The song is so clam but the words and the heart in this song is not a peaceful thing. The singer is so sad because the world had changed after the war started. He must have thought that god gave up on the world. He was asking for help./ This song is so emotional and appealing that I came to like it./ The song reports environmental pollution./ This is a song of environmental devastation. The singer is afraid that a lot of creatures would die off by mercury and wasted oil./ When the environment is destroyed, people pray for God. The “she “ symbolizes the sacrifice of the earth./ He wonders if people all over the world including him will be happy in the future. He wants to save the earth./
Noticing: This songwriter uses personification to write this song./ Relative clauses are used in the words of the song. The expressions of this song are very clean. The refrain of “mercy” is very impressive./ The writer has a hope for the future, so there is “My sweet Lord” in the lyrics./ This song has sweet air, but the lyrics mean growth after the war. I could see people’s positive attitude./ Problems that human beings make affect all people around the world./ I noticed that this song appeals to public opinions about environmental pollution and I think it’s a very serious problem./ The beat of the song is R&B, so it sounds like a happy song, but if you look into the lyrics carefully, you would realize it isn’t. These days the weather is going crazy and a lot of nature is being polluted by humans and “she” might not be able to stand it any more. So, we should think about environmental pollution once more./ I still have some questions about these lyrics. Who is “she” and who is “My sweet Lord”? I felt Marvin Gaye’s lament for man in the last part of the music./ I had never thought that this song was about environmental problems. To be sure, things never have been what they used to be, I thought. We should think about it seriously./ I could hear the lyrics clearly when I learned the lyrics./ I touched the depth of the song and I think we should do something to this wicked world./ This song sings about air pollution because it uses words like radiation. We have to treasure the earth for us./ I’ve heard this song before. This song has many contrasts and comparisons. “Oh, mercy mercy me” is the best part of the song./ It is true that not all changes are wicked but I consider that we should have a deep feeling for what must stay with the earth./ I found out that “she” isn’t a black person or a poor person. I suspect that “she” symbolizes the earth, animals and birds that were injured by human beings./ A lot of people call for protecting the environment, but I was surprised the author had been thinking of environmental problems a long time ago./ The singer takes the place of the earth to sing about the polluted world, and tells us to stop breaking it immediately. We have to save “this overcrowded land” by united effort of great many people./ All the things were lost in the stupid war. The blue sky was lost and poison and radiation spread underground and in the sky killed many lives. This is a tragic story./ I think this song’s theme is tragedy of war./ All elements of environment listed in this song have been destroyed by human beings./ I see that this song shows a strong warning that we humans are polluting the earth. Human activities turn to be abuse to the earth and to other animals./ the song really laments various accidents which people bring about on the earth. / In Japan, there is probably no singer singing about environment. So, to me, this song sounds very interesting./ I find the theme of the song is environmental destruction. He criticized consumption cause of advanced countries./ I thought he couldn’t stand the fact that the earth is dying./ This song sings about environmental issues. It turned out as I had expected./ I still can’t see what “she” symbolizes. I think the melody is fine, though./ Marvin Gaye deplored and referred to the surroundings abused from us./ I found out that it was telling us about the pollution of the environment./ This song helps me to think again about ecology and our sins on earth. At first, it sounded like a gentle song with sweet melody. I hear it now, however, as a desperate cry to humanity./ I found out that this song is about nature and this song has some metaphor.// I realized that the song claims environmental problems./ The melody is very bright, but the meaning of the lyrics is heavy. It is full of messages!/ This song tells us what happened in those days. We need to think of environmental problems deeply and try to solve them./ The song writer objects to wasting natural resources./ I think the song is a message for the people who have been destroying the earth./ Environmental problems remain for us to solve./ The environment of earth is getting worse now. I felt this songwriter’s sorrow./ I feel that this song should be known more in Japan, not only because of the great tune but because of the message it sends. It lets us know how corrupt the environment is today./ I just think that Marvin Gaye is a great man. Artists today on the whole tend to give out messages about “love” through their works, but Marvin was able to appeal for the awareness of pollution in the days of 1970s./ I don’t think these words match this funky melody. I think he was supposed to sound depressing, but he sounds kind of happy with this music. But all in all, I like it./ The author doesn’t want to destroy the nature. She appeals to us with this song. I like this song because it is peaceful./ The phrase “what they used to be” lets me think that we are breaking the beautiful earth and realize that we should save the earth./ The singer might use the word “me” to show that he himself is part of the “man” who is destroying nature./ He seemed to say “there used to be peace and riotous with nature. You need to reconsider the waste of time.”/ The theme of the song is challenging and international./ Marvin Gaye criticizes Europe and America./ Environmental pollution is a very old problem./ I felt sad to know that the environment of the earth was destroyed. The song sends a very important message to us./ The song seems to be light, but the lyrics are about environmental problems./ The singer refers to the environmental pollution in this song. He may have wanted to send the message about harsh circumstances of the earth./ I couldn’t understand what the figurative words mean. I just could feel the regret that the singer is feeling. / As the world is getting westernized, the stronger and the stronger the wind blows./ What human beings do for their profits kills animals, families, and the earth. We must realize that we have to pay for the environmental pollution. We would be doomed to die off. The earth is not for human beings alone./ The hidden message in the song is that people do not pray for god until the environment is destroyed. The message is biting satire./ The song has fresh melody but points out many problems./ This song arouses my imagination. The song has a great perspective./
参考資料：
Marvin Gaye (born Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr.) (April 2, 1939 ? April 1, 1984) was an American soul and R&B singer-songwriter, instrumentalist, record producer and performer who gained international fame as an artist on the Motown label in the 1960s and 1970s.
Along with Stevie Wonder, Gaye is notable for fighting the hit-making―but creatively restrictive―Motown record-making process, in which performers and songwriters and record producers were generally kept in separate camps. With his successful 1971 album What's Going On and subsequent releases including Trouble Man and Let's Get It On proved that Gaye, who had been a part-time songwriter for Motown artists during his early years with the label, could write and produce his own singles without having to rely on the Motown system. This achievement (along with those of contemporaries Curtis Mayfield and George Clinton) would pave the way for the successes of later self-sufficient singer-songwriter-producers in African American music, such as Stevie Wonder, Luther Vandross, and Babyface.
During the 1970s, Gaye would release several other notable albums, including Let's Get It On and I Want You, and had hits with singles such as "Let's Get It On", "Got to Give It Up", and, in the early 1980's, "Sexual Healing". By the time of his death in 1984, at the hands of his clergyman father, Gaye had become one of the most influential artists of the soul music era.
By the time the tour ended, he isolated himself by moving into his parents' house. He threatened to commit suicide several times after numerous bitter arguments with his father, Marvin, Sr. On April 1, 1984, one day before his forty-fifth birthday, Gaye's father shot and killed him after an argument that had started after Marvin's parents argued over misplaced business documents
Throughout his long career, Gaye scored a total of forty-one Top 40 hit singles on Billboard's Pop Singles chart between 1963 and 2001, sixty top forty R&B singles chart hits from 1962 to 2001, eighteen Top 10 pop singles on the pop chart, thirty-eight Top 10 singles on the R&B chart, three number-one pop hits and thirteen number-one R&B hits and tied with Michael Jackson in total as well as the fourth biggest artist of all-time to spend the most weeks at the number-one spot on the R&B singles chart (52 weeks). (以上、Wikipediaより)
Amazon UKより
- Sly & The Family Stone might have psychedelicised soul music, but Marvin Gaye personalised it
- As a teenager I bought the album on the day of its UK release. I love it as much today as I did back then. One of the first concept albums, with a message that was years ahead of its time, this is truly a masterpiece. He never bettered it. Wonderful from start to finish.
- The old social problems have not gone away, and are unlikely to; what is more, we even have to deal with Iraq, like Gaye's America had to deal with Vietnam. And deep down, we all know that if we could replace hate with love, the world would be a much better place. Therefore, one can consider this album not just as a product of the early '70s, but as a product for all time.
