Panama (song)

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

The song was written about a car. According to David Lee Roth this was because critics accused him of writing about nothing more than partying, sex, and cars but Roth realized that he had yet to write a song about cars. In an interview with Howard Stern, Roth explained the meaning behind the trademark song. Although the song features some suggestive lyrics, it is about a car that Roth saw race in Las Vegas; its name was "Panama", hence the title of the song.

During the bridge of the song where Roth 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 American version of the PlayStation 2 game Gran Turismo 4 (along with part of "Moon Over The Castle") and in the film Superbad, when Fogell/McLovin and Officer Slater and Michaels (played by Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Bill Hader, and Seth Rogen respectively) hold a drunken three-man car show in a deserted parking lot. In The Drew Carey Show episode, "A House Reunited" Mimi tries to drive Drew out of his house by blasting, "Panama" all day for 3 days straight.

Pat Boone recorded a swing version of the song in his 1997 album In a Metal Mood: No More Mr. Nice Guy.