The project involved transcribing all the label’s singles between 1959 and 1972.
Motown Records, the Detroit label founded in 1959, was essential in shaping the sound of the vinyl era. As the self-proclaimed “sound of young America,” the label pierced the pop charts with soulful ballads and socially-charged anthems from the likes of Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, Michael Jackson and Marvin Gaye. A 14-volume vinyl series, titled The Complete Motown Singles, collected the label’s singles from its inception to 1972, when it left the Motor City and made Los Angeles the location of its new headquarters. Although the legendary label was responsible for numerous classics, you might be surprised to learn that lyrics to many of their older songs can’t be found online.
We’re honored to announce that as of today, the lyrics to all 1,838 songs collected in The Complete Motown Singles are now on Genius. For more than half of these tracks, the lyrics are published for the first time since their original recordings nearly 60 years ago.
Genius is lucky enough to sit at the forefront of music discovery, curation, and annotation, but it would all be impossible without its dedicated community. Earlier this year, a group of community editors collectively added lyrics to 200 classic hip-hop songs to Genius and the internet’s wealth of music knowledge. Inspired by “Hip Hop’s Greatest Singles By Year” according to ego trip’s Book of Rap Lists, the project’s contributors ensured every song on the list is now available on Genius. Since its completion, the community has continued its efforts and proudly expanded its accomplishments by adding 450 more vintage rap songs.
Improving Motown’s online ubiquity was only a natural succession to the hip-hop classics project. Late last year, Genius contributor @Dyazz noticed that Genius (and the internet as a whole) were missing many classic Motown songs. Intent on making a change, he decided to dedicate his time to completing The Complete Motown Singles series. Both overwhelmed by the scope of his goal and inspired by previous successes of the community, he made his plan public in April of this year. He called upon his fellow Genius contributors for help and was joined by many enthusiastic music aficionados.
Some of these songs were sung at marches, shouted at sit-ins, muttered in the face of danger and oppression—they’re just as much part of history as something you’d read in a textbook.
Some Motown records are a part of the history books. Marvin Gaye’s seminal What’s Going On album and Edwin Starr’s chart-topping hit, “War,” double as socially conscious records and as some of Motown’s most celebrated works. But songs like “Stop The War Now,” the b-side to “War,” or “Black Maybe,” a Stevie Wonder-penned song for his ex-wife Rita Wright, haven’t been as lucky and have largely been forgotten. Thanks to the Genius community, the lyrics for both these songs can now be found online.
Newcomers to Motown might presume there’s no place for the label’s decades old material in the current musical landscape, but Genius contributor @JJEvans points towards the opposite.
To contribute to transcription efforts like The Motown Singles Project is to put on one’s historian hat and dust off the past.
Hitsville U.S.A. was the original home of Motown Records and its studios. The site now functions as the Motown Museum, decades after Motown relocated to the West Coast to pursue a future on the big screen. Instead of Motown’s birthplace of Detroit, @kingkillmonger looked to its second home for inspiration.
Genius contributor @APH hosted the aforementioned ego trip project which brought over 650 hip-hop songs to Genius. He not only influenced the Motown effort, but also helped bring the project to completion. He talked about importance of transcribing classics.
Time travelling thru Motown’s archives is like listening to the evolution of production quality.
Genius depends on its volunteers to provide accurate lyrics. While this might seem like a simple task, it requires intricate knowledge of pop culture references and a trained ear.
Although the Motown project has concluded, many other facets of music culture remain undocumented. Genius contributor @JJEvans maintains a page meant to highlight community efforts. You can join a project by signing up to Genius and visiting the projects index. You can also join the discussion on the forums in @JJEvans’ latest weekly update!.
Genius and @Dyazz would like to thank all who made the preservation of Motown lyrics possible: @APH, @Liiight, @chanhmatt, @Chancelorr, @SmashBeezy, @kingkillmonger, @KIRSSES, @snares, @JJEvans, @WolfXCIX, @MahDOOM, @LucasGabrielRM, @AlexanderJamesM, @Aegidrom, @WhatSmada, @SirChuckwagon, @MForMarlon, @Pineapple_13, @WaterGod, @MarchHare, @wafflehouseindex, @Trev_27, @ARPessoa, @Macjah, @JLJMusic, and more.