About Runnin' with the Devil

"Runnin' with the Devil" is the second single from Van Halen's 1978 eponymous debut album. The song lyrics were inspired by the Ohio Players song "Runnin' from the Devil". In 2009, it was named the 9th greatest hard rock song of all time by VH1. Chuck Klosterman of Vulture.com ranked it the eighth-best Van Halen song, praising the staccato bass playing as well as David Lee Roth's vocal performance.

The song begins with a collection of car horns sounding. The horns were taken from the band's own cars and mounted in a box and powered by two car batteries, with a foot switch. Producer Ted Templeman slowed the horns down before adding them to the track. This same idea was first used during the band's club sets and appeared on the Gene Simmons-recorded demo of the song, as well as the song "House of Pain" which preceded it on the demo. A four-measure guitar solo is played after the second and third chorus. Initial pressings of the Van Halen compilation Best Of, Vol.1 contained an alternate edit of "Runnin' with the Devil" where the verses, chorus and solos were arranged in a different order than that of the original album version. It was reported that this was accidental and subsequent pressings have replaced this version with the one found on Van Halen.