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Old 05-14-2007, 09:19 PM   #1
smorrissey
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Question

Van Halen - Panama question


Does anybody know why this song is named "Panama"?

They're not reffering to the country... so?
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Old 05-14-2007, 11:14 PM   #2
CanyonCarver
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I never asked myself the question. Anyone?
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Old 05-15-2007, 11:34 AM   #3
smorrissey
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I have to answer my own questions in ths forum.

"Panama" is a song from Van Halen's highly successful album 1984. It was the second single released from that record and is one of their most recognized songs.

The song was written about a stripper, not a car as alluded to by popular belief.[citation needed] Interestingly, it was born out of the fact that critics accused David Lee Roth of writing about nothing more than partying, sex, and cars. But he realized that he hadn't written a song about cars. In an interview with Howard Stern , Roth explained the meaning behind the trademark song. The sounds and some of the lyrics involve cars, but in reality, the song is about a stripper that Roth saw perform in Nebraska or Arizona, her name was "Panama," hence the title of the song.

During the bridge of the song where he 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 attached to the exhaust pipe to record the sound for the song.[1]

When U.S. troops used high volume heavy metal music to flush Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega from the Vatican embassy in 1989, "Panama" was among the Van Halen tracks included in the sound barrage.

"Panama" is featured in the opening title for the PlayStation 2 game Gran Turismo 4.
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Old 05-20-2007, 11:25 AM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by smorrissey
When U.S. troops used high volume heavy metal music to flush Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega from the Vatican embassy in 1989, "Panama" was among the Van Halen tracks included in the sound barrage.
I Loved cowboy diplomacy in the 80's! Lets go down to Panama, set up some heavy metal around this bastard dictators hideout at the Vatican compound and pound him 24/7 till that stupid f#*ker comes out! No loss of life, nobody gets hurt, and the troops can f#*cking party out till the silly little sh#t peaks out from behind the door and they snatch his stupid ass and fly him away in a chopper! That's good old fashioned American diplomacy!
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Old 05-20-2007, 06:02 PM   #5
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Hell yea lol, good form of diplomacy and they can learn some good music over in there . Yea I've heard it was about a stripper although with the with the lyrics I could see how some could lead to believe it was about a car.
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