THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

647-Van Halen-Jump.

1984-Number 7 single.

Best Bit-At 3.34. Here’s an interesting coincidence for those of us with lots of spare time on our hands. The ‘B’ side of the U.S. single release of ‘Jump’ is a song called ‘House of Pain.’ In 1992 the American Hip-Hop group House of Pain had a hit with a song called Jump (see also best songs 75.)

Van Halen were formed in Pasadena, California, United States, in 1974, and remained active until the death of Eddie Van Halen in 2020. The bands original line up from 1974-1985 were the brothers, Eddie Van Halen 1955-2020,) (lead guitarist,) his brother Alex Van Halen (drummer,) David Lee Roth (lead vocalist,) and Michael Anthony (bass.) In 1985 Roth left the band to pursue a solo career, and was replaced by a new lead vocalist Sammy Hagar. Roth returned to the band in 2006, replacing Hagar. In the same year Michael Anthony left, and was replaced by Eddie’s son Wolfgang Van Halen. Between 1978-2012 the band released 12 studio Albums, and with sales in excess of 80 million records, they are one of the worlds best selling artists.

‘Jump’ is Van Halen’s most successful single, taken from their 1983 Album called ‘1984,’ it reached Number 1 on Billboard in 1984. The song introduced the use of a synthesizer by Eddie Van Halen, which David Lee Roth objected to, as he thought it would be seen as them selling out in order to get more radio play. Eddie had written the music in 1981, admitting he had copied the synth part from the Hall and Oates song ‘Kiss On My List.’ Daryll Hall has stated that he had no problem wit Eddie doing that. David Lee Roth wrote the lyrics, and has teased with various accounts as to what the song is about, but usually tells the story of a news story he saw on television about a man about to kill himself by jumping off a building, Roth thought to himself,’might as well jump,’ but in a positive sense. Don’t jump to your death, but instead jump in to a more positive frame of mind, and make the most of your life’.

‘I get up, and nothin’ gets me down. You got it tough, I’ve seen the toughest around, and I know baby just how you feel. You got to roll with the punches, and to get to what’s real.’