About The Song
“Jump” is a song by American rock band Van Halen. It was released in December 1983 as the lead single of their sixth studio album, 1984. It is Van Halen’s most successful single, reaching number 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The song differs from earlier Van Halen songs in that it is driven by a keyboard riff, although the song does contain a guitar solo. David Lee Roth dedicated the song to martial artist Benny “The Jet” Urquidez, of whom he was a student. In 2021, Rolling Stone ranked “Jump” at number 177 on its updated list of the “500 Greatest Songs of All Time”.
“Jump” was one of the few Van Halen songs originally recorded by Roth that Sammy Hagar would perform live during his tenures with the band.
The synth line was written circa 1981 by Eddie Van Halen, but it was rejected by the other members of the band. In 1983, producer Ted Templeman asked Roth to listen to the unused song idea. Riding around in the back of his 1951 Mercury, with band roadie Larry Hostler driving, Roth listened repeatedly to the tune. To come up with a lyric for it, he remembered seeing a TV news report the night before about a suicidal jumper. Roth thought that one of the onlookers at such an event would inevitably yell “go ahead and jump”. Roth bounced this suggestion off Hostler who agreed it was good; however, instead of describing a potential suicide, the lyrics were written as an ontological invitation to action, life and love. Roth later told Musician magazine that Hostler was “probably the most responsible for how it came out.” The song is set in the key of C major, with the guitar solo in the key of B♭ minor. “Jump” has a moderate common time tempo of 129 beats per minute.
Ted Templeman recalls that “Jump” was recorded at Eddie Van Halen’s newly constructed home studio. “Engineer Donn Landee and Ed put the track down alone in the middle of the night. We recut it once in one take for sonic reasons. Dave wrote the lyrics that afternoon in the backseat of his Mercury convertible. We finished all vocals that afternoon and mixed it that evening.”
The keyboard part was performed on an Oberheim OB-Xa. Live performances began with Eddie’s synthesizer solo “1984”. During the reunion tour with Roth, the two songs were used for the band’s encore.
According to Daryl Hall of Hall & Oates, “[Eddie] Van Halen told me that he copied the synth part from ‘Kiss on My List’ and used it in ‘Jump.’ I don’t have a problem with that at all.”
Musically, the song was a departure from the band’s original style, embracing more of a popular and radio-friendly sound. “Jump” has been described as a “synth-rocker”, as a combination of hard rock and pop, as exemplifying pop rock of the 1980s, built on a classic rock foundation of repeated bass notes and having standard rock instrumentation, and as “a true rock masterpiece.” The song has been also described as a pop/glam metal anthem.
The synth line was written circa 1981 by Eddie Van Halen, but it was rejected by the other members of the band. In 1983, producer Ted Templeman asked Roth to listen to the unused song idea. Riding around in the back of his 1951 Mercury, with band roadie Larry Hostler driving, Roth listened repeatedly to the tune. To come up with a lyric for it, he remembered seeing a TV news report the night before about a suicidal jumper. Roth thought that one of the onlookers at such an event would inevitably yell “go ahead and jump”. Roth bounced this suggestion off Hostler who agreed it was good; however, instead of describing a potential suicide, the lyrics were written as an ontological invitation to action, life and love. Roth later told Musician magazine that Hostler was “probably the most responsible for how it came out.” The song is set in the key of C major, with the guitar solo in the key of B♭ minor. “Jump” has a moderate common time tempo of 129 beats per minute.
Ted Templeman recalls that “Jump” was recorded at Eddie Van Halen’s newly constructed home studio. “Engineer Donn Landee and Ed put the track down alone in the middle of the night. We recut it once in one take for sonic reasons. Dave wrote the lyrics that afternoon in the backseat of his Mercury convertible. We finished all vocals that afternoon and mixed it that evening.”
The keyboard part was performed on an Oberheim OB-Xa. Live performances began with Eddie’s synthesizer solo “1984”. During the reunion tour with Roth, the two songs were used for the band’s encore.
According to Daryl Hall of Hall & Oates, “[Eddie] Van Halen told me that he copied the synth part from ‘Kiss on My List’ and used it in ‘Jump.’ I don’t have a problem with that at all.”
Musically, the song was a departure from the band’s original style, embracing more of a popular and radio-friendly sound. “Jump” has been described as a “synth-rocker”, as a combination of hard rock and pop, as exemplifying pop rock of the 1980s, built on a classic rock foundation of repeated bass notes and having standard rock instrumentation, and as “a true rock masterpiece.” The song has been also described as a pop/glam metal anthem.
Video
Lyrics
I get up and nothin’ gets me down
You got it tough, I’ve seen the toughest around
And I know, baby, just how you feel
You got to roll with the punches to get to what’s real
Ah, can’t you see me standin’ here?
I’ve got my back against the record machine
I ain’t the worst that you’ve seen
Ah, can’t you see what I mean?
Ah, might as well jump (jump)
Might as well jump
Go ahead and jump (jump)
Go ahead and jump
Hello, hey you
Who said that?
Baby, how you been?
You say you don’t know
You won’t know until you begin
So can’t you see me standing here?
I’ve got my back against the record machine
I ain’t the worst that you’ve seen
Ah, can’t you see what I mean?
Ah, might as well jump (jump)
Go ahead and jump
Might as well jump (jump)
Go ahead and jump
Jump
Might as well jump (jump)
Go ahead and jump
Get it and jump (jump)
Go ahead and jump
Jump
Jump
Jump
Jump