Van Halen - Panama - Meaning of the song
Panama is a country in Central America famous for its canal, but it has nothing to do with the song. The lyrics are about a stripper David Lee Roth met in Arizona. As he explained on The Howard Stern Show, the song came about after an interview Roth gave in the early '80s; the interviewer accused him of only writing lyrics about sex, drugs, and fast cars. Sometime either during or after the interview, Diamond Dave realized he'd never actually written a song about fast cars, so he started working on the lyrics to "Panama," which he later admitted in another interview that, as it turns out, he had been writing about a stripper he knew without realizing it. The finished lyrics were inspired by both the stripper and the car.
Panama - Lyrics
Jump back, what's that sound?
Here she comes, full blast and top down
Hot shoe, burnin' down the avenue
Model citizen, zero discipline
Don't you know she's coming home with me
You'll lose her in the turn
I'll get her
Panama, Panama
Panama, Panama
Ain't nothin' like it, her shiny machine
Got the feel for the wheel, keep the moving parts clean
Hot shoe, burnin' down the avenue
Got an on ramp comin' through my bedroom
Don't you know she's coming home with me
You'll lose her in the turn
I'll get her
Panama, Panama
Panama, Panama
Yeah, we're runnin' a little bit hot tonight
I can barely see the road from the heat comin' off of it
Ah, you reach down, between my legs and ease the seat back
She's blinding, I'm flying
Right behind the rear view mirror now
Got the feeling, power steering
Pistons popping, ain't no stopping now
Panama, Panama
Panama, Panama
Panama, Panama
Panama
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