Marvin Gaye - I heard it through the grapevine - Lyrics Meaning

Torn between his heart and his head Marvin Gaye tells the story of a jilted lover. The writer strongly suspects that his girlfriend is in fact with another man.

Inside him a conflict rages, the willing nature to give her the benefit of the doubt in the name of love and the urge to save face and recognize the situation as it is.

`People say believe half of what you see,

Oh, and none of what your hear,

But I can't help but be confused'

In the pangs of his distress the writer holds out hope of reconciliation in the shades of his still strong emotions for the women but realizes this is in vain.

`Would end my life you see,

Cause you mean that much to me'

Now trying to work the situation out he recognizes it is not salvageable but longs for the respect and fellow feeling they once had for each other to be relinquished in the fact that he doesn't have to hear it through the grapevine.