About Panama

"Panama" is a song by the American rock band Van Halen. It was the third single released from the album 1984. Musically, "Panama" has been described as glam metal, heavy metal, and hard rock. The song was reportedly written about a car. In an interview with Howard Stern, lead singer David Lee Roth explained the meaning behind the song. Although the song features some suggestive lyrics, it is about a car that Roth saw race in Las Vegas; its name was "Panama Express", hence the title of the song.

Panama was also the name of Roth's Opel Kadett. Roth wrote the song after being accused by a reporter of singing about only women, partying, and fast cars. He realized he'd never written a song about fast cars, and decided to write one. In a interview with guitarist Eddie Van Halen, he said the song was musically inspired by AC/DC's straightforward three chord rock style (Van Halen played with them on their first tour in 1978 and on the 1984 tour). During the bridge of the song where Roth says "I can barely see the road from the heat comin' off," Eddie Van Halen can be heard revving his 1972 Lamborghini Miura S in the background. The car was backed up to the studio and microphones were attached to the exhaust pipe to record the sound for the song. The song is in the key of E? Major. However, the published score is in the key of E Major, having a moderate rock common time tempo of 144 beats per minute.