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

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

''.

Composition

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

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

Background

Despite its name, the song is not about the country. Instead, the song was reportedly written about a car.classicvanhalen.com - 1984
/ref> In an interview with Howard Stern, lead singer

David Lee Roth David Lee Roth (born October 10, 1954) is an American rock singer. Best known for his wild, energetic stage persona, he was the original lead vocalist of the hard rock band Van Halen across three stints, from 1974 to 1985, in 1996 and again fro ...

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 The Opel Kadett is a small family car produced by the German automobile manufacturer Opel from 1936 until 1940 and then from 1962 until 1991 (the Cabrio continued until 1993), when it was succeeded by the Opel Astra. Kadett I (1936–1940) ...

. 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 Edward Lodewijk Van Halen ( , ; January 26, 1955 – October 6, 2020) was an American musician and songwriter. He was the guitarist, keyboardist, backing vocalist, and primary songwriter of the rock band Van Halen, which he co-founded along ...

, he said the song was musically inspired by

AC/DC AC/DC (stylised as ACϟDC) are an Australian Rock music, rock band formed in Sydney in 1973 by Scottish-born brothers Malcolm Young, Malcolm and Angus Young. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock, and Heavy metal ...

'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 The Lamborghini Miura is a sports car produced by Italian automaker Lamborghini between 1966 and 1973. The car was the first supercar with a rear mid-engined two-seat layout, although the concept was first seen in a production road car with Ren ...

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 E major (or the key of E) is a major scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has four sharps. Its relative minor is C-sharp minor and its parallel minor is E minor. Its enharmonic equivalent, ...

, having a moderate rock common time tempo of 144 beats per minute.

Music video

The music video for the song, directed by Pete Angelus, primarily features 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 ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, and with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker'', ...

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 The eighteenth season of ''Family Guy'' was announced on February 12, 2019. It aired on Fox from September 29, 2019, to May 17, 2020. The series follows the dysfunctional Griffin family, consisting of father Peter, mother Lois, daughter Meg, son ...

," a 2020 episode of the animated TV series ''

Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom originally conceived and created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The show centers around the Griffin family, Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter Griff ...

'', in which Peter mistakes the album ''

'' for a book-on-CD of

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalitar ...

's novel '' Nineteen Eighty-Four'' and becomes addicted to the song. It is also featured in ''

Superbad ''Superbad'' is a 2007 American coming-of-age teen buddy comedy film directed by Greg Mottola and produced by Judd Apatow. The film stars Jonah Hill and Michael Cera as Seth and Evan, two teenagers about to graduate from high school. Before grad ...

'' during a parking lot escapade with McLovin’. The song is also featured as in-game music for the video game '' Gran Turismo 4,'' with the song prominently featured in the game intro.

Personnel

– lead vocals *

– guitar, backing vocals * Alex Van Halen – drums * Michael Anthony – bass guitar, backing vocals

Chart positions

Notes

{{Authority control 1984 songs 1984 singles Van Halen songs Song recordings produced by Ted Templeman Songs written by Eddie Van Halen Songs written by Alex Van Halen Songs written by Michael Anthony (musician) Songs written by David Lee Roth Songs about cars Warner Records singles