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Panama (song)

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Wikipedia article




{{Infobox song

| name = Panama

| cover = Van Halen - Panama (US).png

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = Van Halen

| album = 1984

| B-side = *"Drop Dead Legs" (US)

*"Girl Gone Bad" (UK)

| released = (US)

| recorded = 1983

| studio = 5150, Hollywood, California

| venue =

| genre =

* Glam metal

* heavy metal

* hard rock

| length =

| label = Warner Bros.

| writer = *Eddie Van Halen

*Alex Van Halen

*Michael Anthony

*David Lee Roth

| producer = Ted Templeman

| prev_title = I'll Wait

| prev_year = 1984

| next_title = Hot for Teacher

| next_year = 1984

| misc =

}}

"'Panama'" is a song by the American rock band Van Halen. It was the third single released from the album '1984'.

Composition



Musically, "Panama" has been described as glam metal, heavy metal, and hard rock.

Background



Despite the name, this song isn't about the country. Instead, the song was reportedly written about a car.[http://www.classicvanhalen.com/albums_1984.shtml classicvanhalen.com - 1984] In an interview with Howard Stern, lead singer David Lee Roth explained the meaning behind the 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 also the name of Roth's Opel Kadett.

Roth wrote the song after being accused by a reporter of singing about only women, partying, and fast cars. He realized he had never written a song about fast cars, and decided to write one.

In an interview with guitarist Eddie Van Halen, he said the song was musically inspired by AC/DC's straightforward three chord rock style.

During the bridge of the song where Roth says "I can barely see the road from the heat comin' off," Eddie Van Halen can be heard revving his 1972 Lamborghini Miura S in the background. The car was backed up to the studio and microphones were attached to the exhaust pipe to record the sound for the song.

The song is in the key of E Major. However, the published score is in the key of E Major, having a moderate rock common time tempo of 144 beats per minute.

Music video



The music video for the song, directed by Pete Angelus, features mostly on-stage performances by the band. The bulk of the video was shot at The Spectrum in Philadelphia over two nights both during the show and at soundcheck. Portions of it were filmed at the tour dates prior during performances at the Providence Civic Center in Providence, Rhode Island.

The car shown in the music video is a heavily customized 1951 Mercury Eight convertible - notably not "Panama Express", the Opel or the Miura.

Reception



Chuck Klosterman of Vulture.com ranked it the fourth-best Van Halen song, calling it the "strongest pure riff in the catalogue."

In popular culture



The song was prominently featured in "Coma Guy," a 2020 episode of the animated TV series 'Family Guy', in which Peter mistakes the album '1984' for a book-on-CD of George Orwell's novel 'Nineteen Eighty-Four' and becomes addicted to the song.

It is also featured in 'Superbad' during a parking lot escapade with McLovin.

Personnel



*David Lee Roth lead vocals

*Eddie Van Halen guitar, backing vocals

*Alex Van Halen drums

*Michael Anthony bass guitar, backing vocals

Chart positions



See also



*List of glam metal albums and songs

Notes



Category:1984 songs

Category:1984 singles

Category:Van Halen songs

Category:Song recordings produced by Ted Templeman

Category:Songs written by Eddie Van Halen

Category:Songs written by Alex Van Halen

Category:Songs written by Michael Anthony (musician)

Category:Songs written by David Lee Roth

Category:Songs about cars

Category:Warner Records singles

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