For Eddie Van Halen
I want to talk about Eddie Van Halen’s "hugest" and perhaps most-overlooked contribution to music throughout the ‘80s on to today—joy.
In a 1995 interview with Guitar World, Eddie Van Halen was asked about his newest record Balance, a Quarter Note record that hit number one on the charts and gave an aging Van Halen their final Top 40 hit. The interviewer remarked that the record had “more key changes than [his] previous work.” “It’s called better songwriting,” Eddie replied. Again, in an interview that year with Rolling Stone, Eddie was asked about the relevance of Green Day-era punk and Pearl Jam-era grunge, replying, “There’s a hardness about how I play that is just as grunge as what they do. I just articulate a little better. And I play loud, too.”
More is better. Bigger is better. Louder is better. This is how Eddie Van Halen encapsulated the ethos of the 1980s and became the most famous non-frontman across decades of music. Some people love him for creating a larger-than-life sound to soundtrack a larger-than-life era. Others wrote off Van Halen as gimmicky, kitschy, and at times, toxic rock music that certainly defined an era, but not positively. In either case, what’s undeniable is everything Eddie Van Halen did was huge—from eruptive flurries of finger-tapped guitar arpeggios and mammoth power chords to the sleaziest machismo and soaring, romantic choruses. In light of his death this week at the age of 65, however, I want to talk about Eddie Van Halen’s hugest and perhaps most-overlooked contribution to music throughout the ‘80s on to today—joy.
I’m a 12-year-old kid experimenting with our family’s first keyboard, skimming through a library of sound presets until I hit something that says “Brass Synth.” I know this sound. I’ve heard its echo in baseball stadiums all my life and felt the rush of excitement reverberate in my ears. I immediately look up how to play Van Halen’s 1984 hit “Jump” and play the intro riff over and over until it’s embedded in my muscle memory. To this day, it’s really the only thing I can play on the keyboard (and hardly at that). And still, Eddie’s little major chord riff sparks joy with every play, no matter how worn-out it is.
Then, David Lee Roth sweeps in: “I get UP / and nothing gets me down / You got it TOUGH / I’ve seen the toughest around / And I KNOW / Baby, just how you feel / You got to ro-o-oll with the punches to get to what’s real.” It is such simple songwriting, but it is real. The biggest mistake songwriters can make in writing “happy music” is pretend hardship doesn’t exist. Van Halen dare to jump, to dream, to soar in the face of “the toughest around.” They do this again on “Dance the Night Away” off the 1979 album Van Halen II. Again, the lyrics are simple, steeped in ‘50s rock & roll and a sentiment of love at first sight. But underneath the simplicity is this reality: the darkness of night continues to push on us, but we are determined to dance with joy anyway.
Eddie wasn’t the primary lyricist for Van Halen; however, he was the primary songwriter, and his joy-filled guitar and keyboard writing created the musical canvas which Roth, and later Sammy Hagar, translated into words as best as they could. Take away the lyrics, however, and you’re still left with some of the most triumphant, energizing music you’ll ever hear in your life. After the second chorus of “Jump,” Eddie tears through the neck of his guitar before jumping over to the synth keys and creating one of the most euphoric crescendos of pop history. Again, on “Dance the Night Away,” Eddie sounds playful with his guitar. His performance is flirtatious, carefree, wavering between shy and bold just like the barroom narrator hoping his new love will look his way.
The kind of carefree joy Eddie Van Halen soaked his music in isn’t always celebrated like pensive ballads or harsh social critiques, and this is a shame. I admit, I oftentimes hold those expressions of art in higher regard as well. I have a hard time letting go and just having fun (unless I’m alone in my car with the speakers all the way up, but we won’t talk about that). I need artists like Eddie Van Halen to remind me that there’s some joy in this world. There is a light that never goes out, as an entirely different ‘80s group once said. Sometimes, we just have to jump and grab it and hold it tightly to take us through the night.
Rest in peace, Eddie.