David Lee Roth sings En Español
Granted, the world needs no further proof that David Lee Roth is insane awesomeness embodied than such notable quotes as, "every jump, every kick was my own personal fight against the anti-Semites," (describing his sense of purpose in Van Halen… and ostensibly the significance behind the song "Jump" in his autobiography Crazy From the Heat) and speaking on the Van Halen reunion, "these songs are as familiar as the roof of your mouth is to you" at a recent press conference (watch it here.)
However, this particular gem of Diamante Dave riches cannot be overlooked. David Lee Roth re-recorded ALL of the vocals — and all of the backing vocal harmonies — sung entirely in Spanish for a worldwide release of his massively popular solo album Eat ‘Em And Smile in 1986, alternately titled Sonrisa Salvaje. Now, I’ve never been a Van Halen "fan," but I can certainly enjoy DLR’s audacity and have always appreciated his ludicrous song intros and spoken interludes ("yeah we’re runnin’ a little bit hot tonight…" anyone?) But, hearing them delivered in true DLR form in another language — that’s something altogether magical. Case in point, the utterly devolved call-and-response intro between Steve Vai’s guitar and DLR at the opening of "Yankee Rose" sounds downright… um… purposeful — as if truly every jump, every kick… every pointless spoken interlude of his career was borne of some supreme force that exists beyond language and must therefore be delivered to all the nations in their respective lexicon. Let’s step into DLR’s head for a moment and put it all into context: as the guitar first notices the woman of such extreme pulchritude, it beckons to Roth in the language beyond all tongues (for they’re all as familiar as the roof of our respective mouths), to which he replies, "Como?"… yada, yada… "Estoy hablando de un Yankee Rose!"
There’s no appreciating David Lee Roth until you’ve heard him in a language you don’t fully understand. Yes, the Beatles recorded in German. ABBA recorded in both their native Swedish as well as English. Multilingual musical product is nothing new. But it does something magical to DLR’s over-inflated ego and music that just has to be heard.
Listen to the classic "Yankee Rose" and "Loco Del Calor" (Goin’ Crazy) En Español here:
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