YouTube Gold: New York City Street Musician Finds A Wonderful Singer

And he goes for the gold

People who can sing will tell you that there are some people and some of their songs that you should just stay away from. Frank Sinatra owns My Way. No ifs, ands or buts. Chuck Berry gets Johnny B. Goode. Moonlight in Vermont? Billie Holiday.

When you look at singers and songs like that, you’d have to be nuts to try What’s Goin’ On by Marvin Gaye. He claimed that, lock stock and smoking barrel. It sounds as cool and revolutionary today as it did when he released it in 1971.

But there’s a reason why nobody really covers it: no one can do it justice.

In this video from New York, a talented guitarist invites people to sing while he plays and one guy, after rapping a bit, takes on Gaye’s classic - and he knocks it out of the park.

Or off the street. Whatever. He nails it, and the guitarist is excellent too. It would have been lovely to have walked by while this unfolded. What a moment.

If you want to skip ahead, go to about the 4:20 mark.