Van Halen – Jump

“Jump” – Single by Van Halen from the album 1984
B-side “House of Pain”
Released December 1983
Label Warner Bros.
Songwriters Michael Anthony, David Lee Roth, Alex Van Halen, Edward Van Halen
Producer Ted Templeman
Charted No.1 in US; No.7 in UK; No.5 in Peru; No.4 in West Germany; No.1 in Canada; No. in France; No.2 in Ireland; No.2 in Australia.

David Lee Roth has given various accounts of the meaning behind the lyrics, but he usually says they are about a TV news story he saw where a man was about to kill himself by jumping off a building (Roth thought, “Might as well jump”). He’s also said the song is about a stripper.

Roth is a great storyteller who likes to build his legend, so he would often add that he wrote the lyric while cruising around Los Angeles in his vintage 1951 Mercury convertible.
“Jump” leaped to #1 in America on February 25, 1984, and stayed for five weeks.

The 1984 album was released on January 9, 1984, ending (by nine days) Van Halen’s streak of releasing one album every year since 1978. It is not known if the release date of 1-9-84 was a clever marketing ploy, or coincidence.
The video is low-budget but highly successful. Directed by Pete Angelus and the band, it’s simply 8-millimeter film footage of Van Halen performing, highlighted by Roth’s slow motion spread-eagle jump (first seen on MTV in Def Leppard’s “Photograph” video).

“Jump” was nominated at the 27th Annual Grammy Awards (1984) in the “Best Rock Performance By a Duo or Group with Vocal” category, losing to “Purple Rain” by Prince & The Revolution.

David Lee Roth – lead vocals
Eddie Van Halen – guitar, synthesizer, backing vocals
Alex Van Halen – drums
Michael Anthony – bass, backing vocals

The video won Best Stage Performance Video at the first MTV Video Music Awards in 1984. MTV quickly discontinued the category as music videos became more creative and relied less on footage of bands performing the song.