"Panama" is a song by the American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Van Halen Van Halen ( ) was an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. Credited with "restoring hard rock to the forefront of the music scene", Van Halen was known for its energetic live shows and for the virtuosity of its lead gu ...

. 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 Glam metal (also known as hair metal or pop metal) is a subgenre of heavy metal that features pop-influenced hooks and guitar riffs, upbeat rock anthems, and slow power ballads. It borrows heavily from the fashion and image of 1970s glam r ...

, 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 A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

. Instead, the song was reportedly written about a car.classicvanhalen.com - 1984
/ref> In an interview with

Howard Stern Howard Allan Stern (born January 12, 1954) is an American radio and television personality, comedian, and author. He is best known for his radio show, ''The Howard Stern Show'', which gained popularity when it was nationally syndicated on terre ...

, 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 Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the 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 A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

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 E-flat major (or the key of E-flat) is a major scale based on E♭ (musical note), E, consisting of the pitches E, F (musical note), F, G (musical note), G, A♭ (musical note), A, B♭ (musical note), B, C (musical note), C, and D (musical note), ...

. 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 The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value ...

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...

of 144 beats per minute.

Music video

The music video for the song, directed by

Pete Angelus Pete Angelus is an artist manager who has worked in the music business since 1975. During his career, he has worked with Van Halen, Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, Slash, Hall & Oates and has managed The Black Crowes The Black Crowes are an Amer ...

, primarily features on-stage performances by the band. The bulk of the video was shot at The Spectrum in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

over two nights both during the show and at

soundcheck A sound check is the preparation that takes place before a concert, speech, or similar performance to adjust the sound on the venue's sound reinforcement or public address system. The performer and the audio engineers run through a small port ...

. Portions of it were filmed at the tour dates prior during performances at the

Providence Civic Center The Amica Mutual Pavilion (originally Providence Civic Center and formerly Dunkin' Donuts Center) is an indoor arena located in downtown Providence, Rhode Island. It was built in 1972, as a home court for the emerging Providence College men's ba ...

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...

. The car shown in the music video is a heavily customized 1951

Mercury Eight The Mercury Eight is an automobile that was marketed by the Mercury division of Ford between 1939 and 1951. The debut model line of the Mercury division, Ford slotted the full-size Mercury Eight between the Ford Deluxe (later Custom) model line ...

convertible - notably not "Panama Express", the Opel or the Miura.

Reception

Chuck Klosterman of Vulture.com 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, so ...

," 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 ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' (also stylised as ''1984'') is a dystopian social science fiction novel and cautionary tale written by the English writer George Orwell. It was published on 8 June 1949 by Secker & Warburg as Orwell's ninth and final ...

'' 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 ''Gran Turismo 4'' is a 2004 racing video game for the PlayStation 2, the fourth installment in the main ''Gran Turismo'' series and the sixth for the overall series. It was developed by Polyphony Digital and published by Sony Computer Entertai ...

,'' with the song prominently featured in the game intro.

Personnel

– lead vocals *

– guitar, backing vocals *

Alex Van Halen Alexander Arthur Van Halen (; born May 8, 1953) is an American musician, best known as the drummer and co-founder of the Rock music, rock band Van Halen. The band was formed in 1972 by Alex Van Halen, his younger brother Eddie Van Halen, Eddie, ...

– 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