Whatever Will Be Will Be.

How is it throwaways become hits? Belief or a Cracker Jack box?

Courtesy of Wikipedia.

“Frankly, I thought it was a dull song.” Marvin Gaye

Marvin Gaye didn’t want to record “I Heard It Threw the Grapevine.” Gladys Knight and the Pips had a version out already, so Marvin didn’t see the point. “It was a throwaway to me,” Marvin said later. “We included it on In The Groove because Norman Whitfield wanted it there. I didn’t particularly like it.”

That throwaway became Gaye’s largest grossing single, ranking sixty-sixth on Billboard Magazine’s Greatest Songs of All Time. The California Raisins version for Post Raisin Bran, with Buddy Miles singing, made Billboard’s Hot 100.

Robbie Robertson held the song back, figuring it was “too weird” lyrically compared to the rest of the songs.

Another song “The Weight” almost didn’t make it on Music From Big Pink. Robbie Robertson held the song back, figuring it was “too weird” lyrically compared to the rest of the songs.

“I threw it in at the end,” he said.

While The Band’s version only reached #61 on the Billboard charts, Aretha Franklin’s version went to #19. An interesting side note: Duane Allman played slide guitar using an empty bottle of decongestant pills.

“The Weight” is still one of the most covered songs in pop history. Mavis Staples of the Staple Singers says she’s still asked to perform it. “I can’t leave the stage if I don’t,” she admitted.

So how do throwaways become hits? Even Robbie Robertson can’t give a definitive answer. “Sometimes you write something and wonder how it can be good,” he said. “It falls outside of the typical and expected. You have nothing to compare it to, so you figure you should keep it in your back pocket.”

“I just thought it was dumb,” Michelle Phillips admitted. “We all did. John kept trying to convince us, so finally we gave in.”

Imagine John Phillips showing the other members of The Mamas and the Papas “Monday, Monday” and getting no response. “I just thought it was dumb,” Michelle Phillips admitted. “We all did. John kept trying to convince us, so finally we gave in.”

“Monday, Monday,” was The Mamas and the Papas’ largest grossing single. Two interesting facts: John Philips wrote the song in 20 minutes. The huge royalties allowed him to buy a Learjet and help finance the Monterey International Pop Festival.

That festival dramatically elevated artists like Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Otis Redding, not to mention inspiring future festivals, most notably the one at Woodstock (technically Bethel, New York).

In any creative endeavor, there’s always doubt. Nobody wants to “fall outside the typical and expected,” especially where careers are involved. We’re all thinking of our reputations and personal saleability — even Gaye, Phillips and Robertson.

They were short a song, so they threw it in. The song was discovered by disc jockeys and became an international success.

Yet, sometimes circumstance and fate make the decision for us. In Robbie Robertson’s case, it wasn’t him fighting for “The Weight.” They were short a song, so they threw it in. The song was discovered by disc jockeys and became an international success.

Looking back, everyone in The Band agreed, it wasn’t so much a throwaway as a “relaxed song.” That appealed to audiences.

Same thing happened for Bobby McFerin and his throwaway song, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.” It was something he wrote on a napkin, a bit of a joke, but it was so “unassuming,” it won two Grammy Awards.

None of us really knows what constitutes a hit, or, more importantly, what constitutes a saleable one.

Vincent Van Gough never sold a painting except to his brother, Theo. It was only after Theo’s death that his widow started really promoting Vincent’s art. Did she have any idea he would eventually become the most popular Post-Impressionist?

Why did it take so long? Probably because there’s no road map or formula for success in art. As Robertson pointed out, if you have nothing to compare it to, how do you know?

All you had was comparison. If you used that as your map or guide, you stop being original.

Bob Dylan frequently told Robertson you couldn’t know what worked and what didn’t. All you had was comparison. If you used that as your map or guide, you stop being original.

Dylan wondered if “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere” was too commercial. He recorded it on “The Basement Tapes” (all of which he wanted dumped), but the song endured.

It became a hit for The Byrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers.

The point is, you can’t judge by crowd mentality (didn’t John Phillips prove that with Monday, Monday?)

Even Elon Musk had his doubts when it came to Tesla. How could an electric car with no track record compete with gasoline-engine cars?

The company moved ahead, putting in charging stations before the cars were even coming off the assembly lines. Somehow belief, or blind faith, worked.

He even admitted he was ready to lose on Tesla if the technology itself could be used elsewhere, like in SpaceX. The company moved ahead, putting in charging stations before the cars were even coming off the assembly lines. Somehow belief, or blind faith, worked.

Tesla is now at the forefront of electric car technology, with factories even in China.

So there is a psychology to success or “hits,” both requiring a certain amount of determination and “belief.” The determination part is mindset. It defines wanting something to the point you’ll fight for it. Belief is spiritual. It’s unattached to anything else.

Sometimes belief is so supernatural, when it pays off, you still can’t really understand why. It clicked, it found a home, it fought convention at a time when that’s what people needed.

Faith is what runs alongside belief. When they agree, it supersedes doubt.

This all makes sense, but obviously there’s more to it. Faith is what runs alongside belief. When they agree, it supersedes doubt.

It’s what we do even when we don’t know it’s right. Perhaps that’s the only explanation. Or maybe it defies explanation. Maybe it’s the alignment of the planets or a shift in the gravitational pull. Perhaps “relaxed” appeals at one moment while “archaic” appeals at another.

If the human brain is that capricious then so are hits and successes. They fit when they fit, they won’t when they don’t. Whatever will be will be.

It’s cosmic on one hand, supernatural on the other, with a Cracker Jack box thrown in for good luck.

Maybe that’s all we’ll ever know.