barry gordon was all about don't rock the boat, let's cross over.er, astute perspective. both of those things are going on in this song at the same time. >> right. this was an argument that marvin gay and barry gordon, who were brothers-in-law, had all the time. marvin gay would say we can't just be about love and heart ache when all these things are going on. we have to address them. was this song an attempt to address them? maybe yes, maybe not, but it did. it took on that meaning. mickey stevenson, one of the song writers, told me he saw it as a song about integration. he definitely saw it as political. martha reeves, who sang it, didn't feel she was singing anything political. she thought she was singing a song about dancing. but, you know, first of all, musically it's a great song. it's one of the really great r&b tracks, great jazz musicians. it just moves people. it gets them on their feet. it excites them. then it has these wonderfully ambiguous words that meant a lot to people and continue to mean things to people. >> well, and that meaning