"Save the Children" is a 1971 song written by Al Cleveland, Renaldo Benson and Marvin Gaye and issued on Marvin's 1971 album, What's Going On. While not issued as a single in the United States, the song was issued as a single by the Tamla-Motown label in the United Kingdom where it peaked at No. 41 on the charts in December 1971, whereas the other major US single releases initially failed to chart in Europe. The song would later be covered by Diana Ross in a medley featuring the jazz song, "Brown Baby", on her 1973 album, Touch Me in the Morning. Gaye sang this song briefly while touring Europe in 1976 as part of his What's Going On medley. Lyrics The song was a continuation of the message "What's Going On" delivered, about love, this time, for the children. Marvin later joked on the liner notes of the album "not let (this song) influence anyone". Marvin recorded both a spoken word recitation of the song and a vocal version mixing the two vocals together featuring Marvin's soft-spoken vocals on one side and his expressive tenor on the other. Personnel Marvin Gaye – lead vocals, spoken verses, production The Andantes – background vocals The Funk Brothers – instrumentation References 1971 songs Marvin Gaye songs Songs about children Songs written by Marvin Gaye Songs written by Al Cleveland Songs written by Renaldo Benson Song recordings produced by Marvin Gaye 1971 singles Diana Ross songs Tamla Records singles