(Instrumental)



Lyrics submitted by ledskynyrd

Track duration: 01:43

"Eruption" as written by Michael Anthony, Edward Van Halen, Alex Van Halen, David Lee Roth

Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.

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Eruption song meanings
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  • 0
    General Comment:I am three years younger than Eddie and have long enjoyed his music with David Lee Roth and then Sammy. My son is 15 and listens to all the “stuff” kids like now days. We recently visited the Smithsonian in Washington DC and after days of walking suddenly there it was right in front of us in a display case, Eddie Van Halen’s guitar “Frank 2”. My son was impressed and showed an interest. Soon after, concert tickets went on sale and I immediately bought two. In order to enjoy the concert one needs to be familiar with the studio recordings so we spent many hours together listening to great songs and watching videos on the web. It was my son who first discovered and recognized the brilliance and significance of Eddies performance in “eruption”. There are dozens of great songs produced by Van Halen over the years, most of them built around what Eddie Van Helen can do with his guitar.

    I have had many highs and lows in this life but none higher than this journey of joy and discovery I have had with my son and the music of Eddie and Alex Van Halen. The sight of Eddie’s son Wolfgang on stage with his father was special too. I’m not sure how great Wolfgang is on bass guitar but I suppose Eddie enjoys spending what time he has left with his son and would do most anything to help him along, as I would my son. Indeed, most of the remaining tour dates have been postponed for unknown reasons. Some speculate Eddie’s cancer is back. I heard that half of his tongue has already been removed. We may have witnessed one of his final live performances.

    For those of us who eagerly anticipate another artist with his level of talent to come along, we are forced to consider 1) In his youth, Eddie spent countless hours experimenting with his guitar (Wikipedia). Our generation grew up with four channels of Black & White TV and no remote control. Today, kids will sit in front of an Xbox for 14 hours a day if you let them. 2) With the internet it is much more difficult to make money in the music business. My son pointed out that in “the tapping part” of “eruption” Eddie is strumming with both his left and his right hand. After careful study of this and other videos my conclusion is that he is right. Nobody can coax a guitar into emitting a wider variety of sounds than Eddie Van Halen and I personally find the “exuberance” and “joy” of his compositions exhilarating and enjoyable, song after song. “Eruption” is only an instrumental but it showcases that core talent present in this prolific body of work known collectively as Van Halen.

    I think it would be hard to find an honest person who could listen to all these great songs and not find one that they thought was pretty darned good. We are all fortunate and I am personally grateful for the countless hours of entertainment and joy that Van Halen has brought to all of us. May God bless Eddie and his family, David Lee, Sammy and Michael Anthony. M
    Flag MartyLovesRocknRollon June 22, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:"I can�t help but reply to those critical of Eddie. I was tempted to just say, �Dear Eddie haters, you suck,� but then I figured while that�s what I felt inside, it just wasn�t a very good argument. So, to the Eddie haters:

    In the course of human history, there have been but a few rock guitarists who will be remembered for changing the face of rock guitar. So far we have Chuck Berry, Jimi Hendrix, Eddie Van Halen, and Kurt Cobain (but not in a good way, so I�m not going to talk about his crappy guitar playing and the era of music that was the buttcrack of rock that he was responsible for making popular). What about Jimmy Page? Well, to be honest, Page didn�t really change the face of rock guitar, he just wrote some of the most amazing riffs of all time. What about Iommi? Iommi didn�t really change the face of rock guitar either, but instead created his own parallel heavy metal guitar universe (mainly a sound more than a style) that played along side rock at the time, namely Jimmy Page, who wrote killer riffs in the style that Hendrix invented. So, three guitarists who took what came before and improved on it. Eddie is the last guitarist on this list to change the face of rock guitar and improve on what came before. Their first album came out in 1978, and when people heard it, a new era began. That was 29 years ago folks, and we�re still waiting for the next guitarist to take rock guitar to a greater place. Grunge came along (dang it, I said I wouldn�t talk about this) and guitar playing regressed to the point that the less talent you showed, the more you were revered. That was the point of grunge, it was the antithesis to what was out at the time, i.e. bands that had guitarists who could play. Yes, maybe it had become cliche, shredding guitars that is, but that doesn�t change the fact that it takes far more talent to play what Eddie Van Halen (and all those who tried to copy him) played than it takes to play even the most difficult grunge song.

    There are some guitarists who have equaled, even possibly surpassed, Eddie Van Halen in technical brilliance (some mentioned earlier in other posts) although I�d venture a guess that there isn�t a guitar song on the face of the earth that Eddie Van Halen couldn�t play. There may be some who play with more passion than Eddie, although I think he gets unfairly labeled as lacking any feeling: how about 316-an ode to his son you �Eddie doesn�t play with heart� SOB�s, I�m the One (who says happy isn�t an emotion), House of Pain (who says anger isn�t an emotion), Year to the Day (ok, fine, you want sadness and feeling, here�s a depresser), or Josephina (a child to his mother, asking to learn about her childhood)? Just because he hasn�t committed suicide doesn�t mean he doesn�t play with feeling. Anyway, back on track, there may be guitarists who surpass Eddie in every criteria of what it takes to be a great guitarist, but there has never been a guitar player who was as technically brilliant as Eddie AND could play with as much feeling as Eddie, AND influenced a generation like Eddie, AND helped invent guitar hardware like Eddie, AND...etc. In other words, Eddie is the all-around greatest rock guitar player of all time, and Eruption is his trademark song.

    If this doesn�t convince you Eddie haters then...YOU SUCK. There, take that."

    LES PAUL LES PAUL LES PAUL LES PAUL that is all ; )
    Flag elwoood13on June 03, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:van halen are so overrated they are so shit
    and so is eddie
    Flag winnyshredson September 06, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Greatest guitar solo ever?
    Flag frank68bullitton July 11, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:There are no lyrics to this song, then why is it up here?
    Flag randomstofilon June 29, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:It upsets me I posted on here two years ago and was such a fucking retard.

    Negligable song after like 2 listens. Nothing special.
    Flag imsokoolitsunkoolon October 26, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:yeah this song gives me chills when i listen to it
    to think someone actually made this piece of work
    Flag meaningofsongon October 23, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:acoustically*...hehe, me and my bad spelling
    Flag havana4saleon June 16, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Feedback or other effects to use*
    Flag havana4saleon June 16, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:What a surprise, everyone posts on Eruption but not on their less popular songs...you people suck, learn to stop listening to the songs that everyone already knows and find some of the better unknown stuff. IMHO Spanish Fly was a WAY more impressive guitar solo than Eruption. Why? Because it was played ACOUSTICLY, so Eddie didn't even have feedback to use.
    Flag havana4saleon June 16, 2008   Link

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