Panama (song)
| "Panama" | |||||||||
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| Single by Van Halen | |||||||||
| from the album 1984 | |||||||||
| A-side | "Panama" | ||||||||
| B-side | "Drop Dead Legs" (US)/"Girl Gone Bad" (UK) | ||||||||
| Released | June 1984 | ||||||||
| Format | 7" | ||||||||
| Recorded | 5150 Studios, Hollywood, California; 1983 | ||||||||
| Genre | Hard rock, heavy metal | ||||||||
| Length | 3:31 | ||||||||
| Label | Warner Music Group | ||||||||
| Writer(s) | Eddie Van Halen Alex Van Halen Michael Anthony David Lee Roth |
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| Producer | Ted Templeman | ||||||||
| Van Halen singles chronology | |||||||||
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"Panama" is a song from Van Halen's album 1984. It was the third single released from that record and is one of their most recognized songs.
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[edit] Background
The song was written about a car.[1] According to David Lee Roth this was because critics accused him of writing about nothing more than partying, sex, and cars, but Roth realized that he had yet to write a song about cars.[citation needed] In an interview with Howard Stern, Roth explained the meaning behind the trademark song. Although the song features some suggestive lyrics, it is about a car that Roth saw race in Las Vegas; its name was "Panama Express", hence the title of the song.
Panama was the name of Dave's car. Dave had the hood and bumper mounted in his hallway, which can be seen in Dave's video for SHOOBop. Dave has a stuffed deer's behind crashing through the front windshield. A plaque underneath reads, "Your First deer, courtesy of PANAMA."
David Lee Roth was quoted during a VH1/CMT television show showcasing his, "Strummin' With the Devil" album.
DLR : "You heard me talking about my Kadett Caravan 1969 in Dance the Night Away. The nickname for that blue 1969 Kadett Caravan was, "Panama" 'cause that was the farthest south that you could possibly go and still have a really corrupt good time. That car now, what I did is I had a friend of mine torch off the front engine lid, and at my house in Pasadena, California we have it bolted to the wall in the front hallway. You have the front engine compartment in the grill and the two front halves of wheels like that, and we mounted the windshield right up on the top of it okay? Like it came crashing through the wall of the hallway. And then what we did, is we went to a place called Ellis Mercantile which is where you rent all of the movie props that they make in Hollywood and all of these environments. There's a section that's very famous at Ellis Mercantile where all of the cowboys and Indians stuff is. So there's a whole stack of stuffed deer at Ellis Mercantile. And I bought one, and we sawed it neatly in half and took just the butt, the tail and the back legs and positioned it like it was coming through the windshield of my Opel Cadet station wagon, and hit it and ran through the wall of my house like that. And we painted the hooves blue, "Blue Suede Hooves." And underneath we have a little plaque that says, "My first deer, courtesy of Panama."
During the bridge of the song where Roth says "I can barely see the road from the heat comin' off of it," guitarist Eddie Van Halen can be heard revving his Lamborghini in the background.[1] The car was backed up to the studio and microphones were attached to the exhaust pipe to record the sound for the song.
[edit] Music video
The music video for the song, directed by Pete Angelus, features mostly on-stage antics by the band.[2] It heavily uses shots of band members flying through the air attached to a cable. During the breakdown, David Lee Roth is seen sword dancing and ribbon dancing. Bassist Michael Anthony's Jack Daniel's whiskey bottle bass guitar is also seen.
[edit] Personnel
- David Lee Roth: lead vocals
- Michael Anthony: bass guitar, backing vocals
- Eddie Van Halen: guitar, backing vocals
- Alex Van Halen: drums
[edit] Cover versions
Pat Boone recorded a swing version of the song in his 1997 album In a Metal Mood: No More Mr. Nice Guy.
John Mayer has covered this song live.
Eddie Van Halen played an instrumental version on the David Letterman show.[3]
The Smashing Pumpkins also released a cover of the song in their Live Smashing Pumpkins album series.
The band re-recorded the song for the video game, Guitar Hero: Van Halen.
Christian parody band ApologetiX did a spoof of the song called "Santa Claus".
The band Bloodhound Gang sometime covered the bridge of the song during live performances of "Kiss Me Where It Smells Funny", while doing so, singer Jimmy Pop would drop his pants and rub his genitals, saying "I feel like fucking Van Halen!", and continue speaking the lyrics. [4]
[edit] In popular culture
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This "In popular culture" section may contain minor or trivial references. Please reorganize this content to explain the subject's impact on popular culture rather than simply listing appearances, and remove trivial references. (September 2011) |
When U.S. troops used high volume heavy metal music during Operation Just Cause to flush Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega from the Vatican embassy in Panama City in 1989, "Panama" was among the Van Halen tracks included in the sound barrage.[5]
"Panama" is featured in the opening title for the American version of the PlayStation 2 game Gran Turismo 4 (along with part of "Moon Over The Castle") and in the film Superbad, when Fogell/McLovin and Officers Slater and Michaels (played by Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Bill Hader, and Seth Rogen respectively) hold a drunken three-man car show in a deserted parking lot.
[edit] Chart positions
| Chart (1984) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Irish Singles Chart[6] | 30 |
| UK Singles Charts[7] | 64 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100[8] | 13 |
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b classicvanhalen.com - 1984
- ^ mvdbase.com - Van Halen - "Panama"
- ^ The Video on Youtube
- ^ YouTube - The Bloodhound Gang - Kiss Me Where It Smells Funny (1997)
- ^ The Rock 'n' Roll Assault on Noriega - U.S. SOUTHCOM Public Affairs After Action Report Supplement, "Operation Just Cause"
- ^ "The Irish Charts". irishcharts.ie. http://www.irishcharts.ie/search/placement. Retrieved 2010-02-27.
- ^ "Panama". chartstats.com. http://www.chartstats.com/songinfo.php?id=11611. Retrieved 2010-02-27.
- ^ "Billboard Singles". allmusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p133911/charts-awards/billboard-singles. Retrieved 2010-02-27.
[edit] External links
- Music video on MTV.com (Windows Media)
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