the vh confession
9 May 2007
My name is Jason Mulgrew. And I prefer Sammy Hagar to David Lee Roth.
Do not misunderstand me; I do not make this pronouncement rashly. Indeed, this is the resolution of a debate that has waged in my head for over 20 years. Few things have caused me such befuddlement and agitation, sleepless night after sleepless night, because I knew that eventually this day would come. And, secretly, I believe I always knew my choice would be Sammy Hagar.
I do not want this to be interpreted as a knock against Mr. David Lee Roth. I recognize and appreciate his talent as a singer and a songwriter, and on a personal level, I both love and am in love with him. While in Van Halen, he created some of the most memorable songs of the decade of the 80’s, and enjoyed a lifestyle filled with bimbos and booze that made every red-blooded American male envious. He is bawdy. He is hilarious. He is fun. So no, it is not because of any deficiency on the part of Mr. Lee Roth that I prefer Sammy Hagar. It is something deeper and within me – and beyond us all.
By examining each man’s catalog of hits, we get closer to the reasoning behind my choice. Mr. Lee Roth’s songs include "Runnin’ With The Devil," "Jump," "Dance the Night Away," "Everybody Wants Some," and "Hot for Teacher" – true party anthems that celebrate the decadence of the times and the lifestyle that David Lee Roth embodied at the height of his fame. Alternatively, some of Mr. Hagar’s biggest hits include, "Why Can’t This Be Love," "When It’s Love," "Can’t Stop Loving You," "Don’t Tell Me What Love Can Do," and "Love Is So Amazing (I Love It)*." The picture is coming into focus.
[*Not the title of an actual Sammy Hagar-penned Van Halen song, though it certainly could be.]
The main reason that I prefer Sammy Hagar is that in my heart of hearts I feel we are kindred spirits. While, like Mr. Lee Roth, I enjoy women with fake breasts and bleached hair and the taste of cheap whiskey, Mr. Hagar and I are both in love with love. And this makes all the difference.
Though I have the scarred and sinewy body of a warrior, I have the soul of a Poet. I observe; I internalize. I feel. I consider Neruda and Lorca friends. I lunch with Catullus and Horace on Thursdays. Auden, I know personally; I sail with Eliot.
With all due respect, the lyrics that Mr. Lee Roth wrote during his tenure with Van Halen read like drivel penned by the only Beta Theta Pi fraternity brother at the University of South Florida with a GPA over 2.8. In contrast, Mr. Hagar’s words transform us; they take us away from the monotony of our everyday lives filled with car payments, job stress, and questionable sexual encounters, and deliver us, wrapped in a blanket of dandelions and raspberries, to a world where Love is King and Love is All.
If Pablo Neruda were alive today - and he had frizzy hair, and he loved tequila, and he could not drive 55 - he’d be Sammy Hagar. Their words are nearly indistinguishable, their obsession with the natural simplicity of love identical. I invite you to try to tell the difference between their poetry:
In the moist night my garment of kisses trembles
charged to insanity with electric currents,
heroically dividing into dreams
and intoxicating roses practicing on me.
Upstream, in the midst of the outer waves,
your parallel body yields to my arms
like a fish infinitely fastened to my soul,
quick and slow, in the energy under the sky.
and
There’s a time and place for everything, for everyone
We can push with all our might, but nothin’s gonna come
Oh no, nothin’s gonna change
And if I asked you not to try
Oh could you let it be
I wanna hold you and say
We can’t throw this all away
Tell me you won’t go, you won’t go
Do you have to hear me say
I can’t stop lovin’ you
And no matter what I say or do
You know my heart is true, oh
I can’t stop loving you
Which is passage belongs to Neruda and which to Hagar? I wish I remembered the answer. After reading those words, I have forgotten it, so moved was I by their brilliance, their temerity. They are so brave. I don’t know what to think, really. To be honest, I don’t know where I am right now. I’m a little frightened.
It is this love of love, finally, that compels me to choose Sammy Hagar over David Lee Roth as my preferred Van Halen singer, frontman, soul. While I regret that there has to be a "loser" in this equation, I do not regret the decision itself and am prepared to stand by it until my last breath. I understand that Mr. Lee Roth may be hurt by my decision, but I will continue to support him in all of his endeavors. It is my greatest hope that our relationship is not too negatively affected now that I have come to this Greatest Conclusion.
As for Mr. Hagar, I am sure that he is pleased. But giving him this smallest pleasure is the very least I can do, as he has given me so, so much more through his Art. Because of him, and his words, and his voice, I am more of a man, more a human being. I am more alive. I am more. I am more.
"How does it feel when it’s love? It’s just something you feel together."
Indeed, Mr. Hagar. Indeed.
Do not misunderstand me; I do not make this pronouncement rashly. Indeed, this is the resolution of a debate that has waged in my head for over 20 years. Few things have caused me such befuddlement and agitation, sleepless night after sleepless night, because I knew that eventually this day would come. And, secretly, I believe I always knew my choice would be Sammy Hagar.
I do not want this to be interpreted as a knock against Mr. David Lee Roth. I recognize and appreciate his talent as a singer and a songwriter, and on a personal level, I both love and am in love with him. While in Van Halen, he created some of the most memorable songs of the decade of the 80’s, and enjoyed a lifestyle filled with bimbos and booze that made every red-blooded American male envious. He is bawdy. He is hilarious. He is fun. So no, it is not because of any deficiency on the part of Mr. Lee Roth that I prefer Sammy Hagar. It is something deeper and within me – and beyond us all.
By examining each man’s catalog of hits, we get closer to the reasoning behind my choice. Mr. Lee Roth’s songs include "Runnin’ With The Devil," "Jump," "Dance the Night Away," "Everybody Wants Some," and "Hot for Teacher" – true party anthems that celebrate the decadence of the times and the lifestyle that David Lee Roth embodied at the height of his fame. Alternatively, some of Mr. Hagar’s biggest hits include, "Why Can’t This Be Love," "When It’s Love," "Can’t Stop Loving You," "Don’t Tell Me What Love Can Do," and "Love Is So Amazing (I Love It)*." The picture is coming into focus.
[*Not the title of an actual Sammy Hagar-penned Van Halen song, though it certainly could be.]
The main reason that I prefer Sammy Hagar is that in my heart of hearts I feel we are kindred spirits. While, like Mr. Lee Roth, I enjoy women with fake breasts and bleached hair and the taste of cheap whiskey, Mr. Hagar and I are both in love with love. And this makes all the difference.
Though I have the scarred and sinewy body of a warrior, I have the soul of a Poet. I observe; I internalize. I feel. I consider Neruda and Lorca friends. I lunch with Catullus and Horace on Thursdays. Auden, I know personally; I sail with Eliot.
With all due respect, the lyrics that Mr. Lee Roth wrote during his tenure with Van Halen read like drivel penned by the only Beta Theta Pi fraternity brother at the University of South Florida with a GPA over 2.8. In contrast, Mr. Hagar’s words transform us; they take us away from the monotony of our everyday lives filled with car payments, job stress, and questionable sexual encounters, and deliver us, wrapped in a blanket of dandelions and raspberries, to a world where Love is King and Love is All.
If Pablo Neruda were alive today - and he had frizzy hair, and he loved tequila, and he could not drive 55 - he’d be Sammy Hagar. Their words are nearly indistinguishable, their obsession with the natural simplicity of love identical. I invite you to try to tell the difference between their poetry:
In the moist night my garment of kisses trembles
charged to insanity with electric currents,
heroically dividing into dreams
and intoxicating roses practicing on me.
Upstream, in the midst of the outer waves,
your parallel body yields to my arms
like a fish infinitely fastened to my soul,
quick and slow, in the energy under the sky.
and
There’s a time and place for everything, for everyone
We can push with all our might, but nothin’s gonna come
Oh no, nothin’s gonna change
And if I asked you not to try
Oh could you let it be
I wanna hold you and say
We can’t throw this all away
Tell me you won’t go, you won’t go
Do you have to hear me say
I can’t stop lovin’ you
And no matter what I say or do
You know my heart is true, oh
I can’t stop loving you
Which is passage belongs to Neruda and which to Hagar? I wish I remembered the answer. After reading those words, I have forgotten it, so moved was I by their brilliance, their temerity. They are so brave. I don’t know what to think, really. To be honest, I don’t know where I am right now. I’m a little frightened.
It is this love of love, finally, that compels me to choose Sammy Hagar over David Lee Roth as my preferred Van Halen singer, frontman, soul. While I regret that there has to be a "loser" in this equation, I do not regret the decision itself and am prepared to stand by it until my last breath. I understand that Mr. Lee Roth may be hurt by my decision, but I will continue to support him in all of his endeavors. It is my greatest hope that our relationship is not too negatively affected now that I have come to this Greatest Conclusion.
As for Mr. Hagar, I am sure that he is pleased. But giving him this smallest pleasure is the very least I can do, as he has given me so, so much more through his Art. Because of him, and his words, and his voice, I am more of a man, more a human being. I am more alive. I am more. I am more.
"How does it feel when it’s love? It’s just something you feel together."
Indeed, Mr. Hagar. Indeed.
