“Right Now” – Van Halen
(Words/music: Michael Anthony, Sammy Hagar, Alex Van Halen, and Eddie Van Halen, available on For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge, Warner Brothers 1991)

The way I see it, there’s a difference between knowing something as fact and thinking something.  For example, I know that Van Halen was a better band with David Lee Roth, or rather that I enjoy Van Halen far more with David Lee Roth than with Sammy Hagar.  I like more of the songs, I prefer Roth’s borderline absurd persona to Hagar’s constant strain.  While I have a cursory knowledge of Van Halen at best, they seemed more adventurous in their earlier days; by the time Hagar joined the band, Van Halen seemed comfortable to rest on their laurels and/or smooth out all of the roughness in their sound. 

That’s the “fact” part (or, for the sake of argument, what I believe to be fact).  The contrary belief comes from my strange adoration with “Right Now.”  In general, the things that fascinate me in this song goes against what I would normally think about Van Halen at any other point in my life other than the five and a half minutes when “Right Now” plays.  Sure, the combination of that opening piano riff and the heavy-handed drums would be terrific no matter who played them (not to mention this is a guitar band generally moving the spotlight elsewhere), and maybe that’s why I’ll let the song continue past its opening notes.  However, these aren’t the things that I enjoy the most.  Hagar’s strained vocals, particularly the way he sings the second line of the song, suck me in every time.  It’s not even an ironic adoration – somehow, this style works in this setting.  Even the lyrics (and if you haven’t thought about them before, don’t waste your time now) don’t bother me.  I even like the second verse quite a bit, in part because of the contrast between Hagar’s delivery and the overly-dramatic music. 

This would normally be cause for cognitive dissonance, but in all honesty, I’m usually too busy air drumming.  That, or I’m hurting myself trying to sing like Sammy Hagar.

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