Friday, October 16, 2020

Recapturing my lost youth: Five underrated Van Halen songs

When Eddie Van Halen died, Electric Agora wrote that “EVH's death has brought back a recurring feeling I've been having since I entered middle age over a decade ago. The world I love is dying bit by bit.”  I’ve often had that sinking realization as well, not only after big events, such as the death of a parent, but also after far less personal events, such Van Halen’s passing.  I didn’t know Eddie Van Halen, of course, but his music is intertwined with my youth, with memories of better days.

The Electric Agora also saw a sliver lining in this reality of dying worlds.  When one’s world dies, “bit by bit,” there’s actually a consolation: when death comes for the individual, that person will be ready to go, ready to leave behind what little is left of his or her world.  That’s true and, at least for me, oddly comforting.  But in the meantime, having just passed a physical and dental exam with flying colors, I’m (most likely) not yet at death’s door.  I am therefore writing this post to enjoy an even better, though admittedly temporary, silver lining: I’m recapturing my lost youth by celebrating and sharing some of Van Halen’s most underrated songs.

Below are five such songs—one from each Van Halen (not Van Hagar) album, except for the band’s two mega hit records: the self-titled debut Van Halen and the band’s sixth album, 1984.  Those records achieved such success on every imaginable level that there are no overlooked gems, no hidden nuggets to unearth.  But their other five albums are goldmines of under-appreciated songs.  Here are my top five:

  1. Take Your Whiskey Home.  It’s easy to get lost in the deep, rich, complex guitar work from the 2:30 mark through the end of this song.  When driving home today (in the city where I’ve lived for 51 of my almost 53 years), I was so engrossed in Ed’s handiwork that I missed my turn and had to double back.  This song contains what could be the greatest 41 seconds of guitar in any rock song I’ve ever heard.  And Dave’s voice is off-the-charts cool throughout.  


  1. Dirty Movies.  In the days of my youth, you could open up the local newspaper and see ads for adult movie theatres.  “XXX” and “Adults Only,” the ads read, with suggestive pictures of the beautiful female stars.  Well, this song takes you back to those days—before the internet, before DVD players, before Beta and VHS recorders, and even before cable television was widely available.  "Do you remember when that girl was prom queen?"   


  1. Little Guitars.  This song is not heavy like Whiskey and Dirty Movies.  It’s upbeat and uplifting.  It reminds me of a simpler time, the 1980s, when my whole life was seemingly ahead of me, Ronald Reagan was in office, freedom was in the air, and communism was on the run.  The 3:40 mark to the end of this song is classic Van Halen: short, tight, and sweet.  “Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh.  Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh.”  Little Guitars is one reason that I scribbled the classic VH logo on the homemade paper bag book covers that protected all of my high school textbooks.  


  1. Light Up the Sky.  How do you follow up a homerun, debut album like Van Halen which not only achieved amazing commercial success and critical acclaim but also saved an entire musical genre from the scrapheap of history?  Well, with Van Halen II, of course.  Everyone knows Dance the Night Away and Beautiful Girls, but this is the list of underrated songs.  Dave and Ed are at their best from the 1:40 mark to the end of this gem.  It’s another one of those VH songs that leaves you hungry for more.  Light ’em up, Ed.


  1. Honeybabysweetiedoll.  After Dave and Ed parted ways back in ’85, David Lee Roth sounded more like Van Halen than Van Hagar did, that’s for sure.  But the boys eventually reunited for A Different Kind of Truth—their seventh and final full length studio album which came in 2012.  The album sounded not just like Van Halen, but like early Van Halen.  This song, with Ed's sharp guitar work and Dave's voice in certain parts—“You’re gonna make me crash”—reminds me of Loss of Control from Women & Children First.

Youth temporarily recaptured.  Thanks, Ed.

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