Shinedown frontman Brent Smith wrote the song "GET UP," the current single from the band's new album ATTENTION ATTENTION , about bassist Eric Bass ' battle with depression -- but it also features a shout-out to a late Motown legend.
In the middle of "GET UP," Smith references R&B icon Marvin Gaye with the line "Everybody wants to sing their song/So, Marvin Gaye, 'What's Going On?'"
Speaking to ABC Radio, Smith reveals that the reference is a "thank you" to his dad, who originally introduced him to Gaye and Motown music when he was a punk-obsessed teenager listening to bands like Misfits and The Exploited .
"It was kinda comical," Smith explains. "Because [my dad] was just like, 'Brent, I don't know what these people are screaming about, or why they're so angry, but I understand your angst and everything. Let me introduce you to this other style of music.'"
While he was writing "GET UP," Smith says, he thought of that moment when his dad turned him on to Motown, and how it impacted him as a musician and as a person.
"As I was being so deep in regards to my friend and talking about Eric, who is a huge part of my life and the band's life, that line kinda came to me because I remembered what my dad did for me," Smith says.
Gaye had a tortured relationship with his own father, who shot the singer to death in 1984. Between thinking of his dad, Bass and Gaye, Smith poured a lot of emotion into "GET UP."
"Maybe it was Marvin Gaye kinda wrapping his arms around me a little bit, and kinda giving me a little bit of a push," Smith says. "Like, 'Hey kid, do it. Go for it. I'm giving you the OK.'"
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