David Lee Roth says that his new song, in which he offers a sad goodbye against a low-key guitar accompaniment, could be about Van Halen reports blabbermouth.net.
Lyrically, Ain’t No Christmas sounds like Roth is closing the door on the current Van Halen reunion, with lines that include, “Sure looked good on paper, once upon a lie. Happily never after, and I’m not okay to drive.
Let’s put the pin back in this one, and say we both survived. Last blank space on the map I think we’ve arrived…
“Quittin’ while you’re ahead ain’t quittin’, and I’m quittin’.”
After initially denying that the song was about Van Halen — telling the Van Halen News Desk that “It’s poetry. It has nothing to do with Van Halen.” Roth has since released a follow-up message, saying, “On second thought, if all work is autobiographic, maybe this song is about Van Halen…”
Greg Renoff, author of the new book Van Halen Rising, was one of many fans who thought Ain’t No Christmas was the singer’s goodbye message to Van Halen. Renoff said, “Roth’s vocal performance here is mournful and somber. His lyrics express feelings of bitterness and regret. My take is that the lyrics provide a commentary on Roth’s recent months with Van Halen and perhaps a window into the future of Van Halen.”
8 Responses
I suppose the bright side is we’re probably closer to the DLR / John 5 record coming out.
I like it, all the drama aside. Van Halen was/is one of the biggest bands in the history of rock. You don’t live through something like that without it profoundly effecting you. For it to finally end and have sensitive Dave pen a song about it makes sense. What we need now is a response song from Sammy, “Aint No Easter.” And that song should be a ballbuster.
Van Halen Rising was an awesome read. If you haven’t read it and you’re a Dave era VH fan, buy it. Renoff must’ve worked his ass off to get all of the cool “pre fame” facts contained within. And if you do read it, you’ll see the whole Dave/VH brothers on again, off again dynamic goes back a long way. There never was a whole lot of love lost between them going all the way back to the early 70’s….