What's Going On is the eleventh studio album by American soul singer, songwriter, and producer Marvin Gaye. What's Going On is a concept album with most of its songs segueing into the next and has been categorized as a song cycle; the album ends with a reprise of the album's opening theme. The narrative established by the songs is told from the point of view of a Vietnam veteran returning to his home country to witness hatred, suffering, and injustice. Gaye's introspective lyrics explore themes of drug abuse, poverty, and the Vietnam War. The album was an immediate commercial and critical success, eventually being regarded as a classic of 1970s soul. In 2003, Rolling Stone ranked it sixth on the magazine's list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time", and also in an updated list nine years later.