Deconstructing Marvin Gaye's 'Inner City Blues'

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the release of Marvin Gaye's landmark CD "What's Going On."

"Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)," the final song on the original album, tells of bleak economic times and social unrest of the post-Kent State 1970s.

Here and Now Pop Culture Critic Renee Graham remembers receiving the album for her ninth birthday.  She said she was struck by the song "Inner City Blues."

"There were so many things being said in the song that I heard my parents talking about or I heard my relatives speaking about so that song always had a particular resonance for me."

The song was written by Gaye and James Nyx Jr., and was one of three Top Ten hits off of the album.