Make Me Wanna Holler, The Way They Do My Life! This Ain't Livin'.

The great Marvin Gaye wrote some socially-conscious lyrics in the 1970's. One can play this kind of game with any number of songs, but do a quick reading of his lyrics to the groovy song "Inner City Blues" and you might think he wrote it last week! "Trigger-happy policing" thankfully excepted, some of Mr. Gaye's simple observations about the unsatisfactory economic conditions in 1971 America ring true today. And even if not, don't we all just feel like hollering when we read the political and economic news these days? Even if the late Mr. Gaye might have been coming from a different political perspective than most of our WC readers, he certainly nailed it with text-message-like succinctness when he wrote lyrics such as "Money, we make it. Before we see it, you take it", "Inflation. No chance, to increase finance", and "Natural fact is, honey that I can't pay my taxes."

So if you get frustrated today when you see what's going on in D.C., take this chance to relax to the mellow funk and beautiful voice of Marvin Gaye, while you simultaneously get the satisfaction of knowing you're not the only one feels like hollering. Pull up the Drudge Report, or maybe the WSJ on your computer screen and say to your coworkers loud and proud, "Makes me wanna holler, the way they do my life! This ain't livin'!" Or just sing it while you're driving, but don't "throw up both your hands" if you do.

"Inner City Blues"

(Marvin Gaye/James Nyx)

Rockets, moon shots

Spend it all on the have nots

Money, we make it.

'Fore we see it, you take it.

[Chorus]

Oh, make you wanna holler

The way they do my life.

Make me wanna holler

The way they do my life

This ain't livin', this ain't livin.

No, no baby, this ain't livin.

No, no, no.

Inflation, no chance

To increase finance

Bills pile up sky high

Send that boy off to die

[Chorus again, and thus more fun hollering]

Make wanna holler (etc)

Hang ups, let downs

Bad breaks, set backs.

Natural fact is

I can't pay my taxes.

[Chorus again, this time with a twist]

Oh, make me wanna holler

And throw up both my hands.

Yeah, it makes me wanna holler

The way they do my life

Crime is increasing

Trigger happy policing

Panic is spreading

God knows where we're heading

Oh, make me wanna holler

They don't understand