Description
video analysis of “Panama”
This item (meaning the vinyl) will be in Excellent Condition
Please note: This is a 7″ VINYL RECORD SINGLE (small record), it is NOT a CD.
“Panama” is a song from Van Halens album 1984. It was the third single released from that record and is one of their most recognized songs.
The song was written about a car. According to David Lee Roth this was because critics accused him of writing about nothing more than partying, sex, but Roth realized that he had yet to write a song about cars. 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 Daves car. Dave had the hood and bumper mounted in his hallway, which can be seen in Daves video for SHOOBop. Dave has a stuffed deers 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” cuz 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. Theres a section thats very famous at Ellis Mercantile where all of the cowboys and Indians stuff is. So theres 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. The car was backed up to the studio and microphones were attached to the exhaust pipe to record the sound for the song.
Music video:
The music video for the song, directed by Pete Angelus, features mostly on-stage antics by the band. 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 Anthonys Jack Daniels whiskey bottle bass guitar is also seen.
Personnel:
David Lee Roth: Vocals.
Michael Anthony: Bass and backing vocals.
Eddie Van Halen: Guitar and backing vocals.
Alex Van Halen: Drums.
Chart (1984) Peak position
Irish Singles Chart 30
UK Singles Charts 64
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 13
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