Mark my words: At some point in the next 10 years, a magazine writer will write about how early Van Halen is cool again. A critical reappraisal will uncover the layers of social commentary within “Ain’t Talkin’ Bout Love” (“I heard the news baby / All about your disease”). The lyrics of “Panama” (particularly the spoken-word section) will be parsed for references to Jimmy Carter’s 1977 signing of the Panama Canal Treaty. Scholars will argue the place “Ice Cream Man” should hold, deontologically speaking, among the anchoring classics of outsider music. Drummers from Brooklyn all the way to Queens will ape Alex Van Halen’s thunderous attack. David Lee Roth will stand proudly alongside Woody Allen, Andy Kaufman, and Shel Silverstein as preeminent Jewish artists.

Related: The David Lee Roth Choose Your Own Adventure game.

25 March 2004

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