The potential Van Halen song that Sammy Hagar hated
(Source: Far Out / YouTube still image)
Most artists entering a band need to know what the word compromise means. The many egos that swirl around a single group are usually enough to build tension before anyone has even played a note. So when one of your bandmates starts criticizing a song, it feels like watching them try to say something mean about your kid. And for all the goodwill Sammy Hagar had built up as a member of Van Halen, Eddie remembered that there was one potentially great piece that the singer didn’t want to be a part of.
However, given their starting point, the idea of anyone in the group not getting along seems like a pipe dream. The whole appeal of Van Halen during the Hagar years was how loose everything was, as if they were all finally relieved to no longer have to deal with the massive antics of frontman David Lee Roth.
Now the hard rock legends could just write music because they wanted to, but that didn’t mean they didn’t fall into some pitfalls along the way. Eddie famously hated the lyrics of the song ‘Amsterdam’ by balance and even caused Hagar to change some of the lyrics of “Don’t Tell Me What Love Can Do” because he felt they lacked a bit more character.
After the group reunited one last time for Humans Being, the release of a greatest hits album led to Hagar either leaving or getting fired, depending on who you ask, as he felt the group needed one more great record before considering a best-of collection. This is ironic, because the next version of the band, fronted by Hagar, only came together for the greatest hits package. The best from both worlds.
But Hagar’s story would not end there. Although “Humans Being” was the last new song he worked on in the 1990s, the group also worked with Glen Ballard on a song called “Between Us Two,” which would mark the beginning of the next wave of Van Halen material.
While Ballard had a strong track record of working with pop acts such as Alanis Morrissette and later even worked magic for Aerosmith, Eddie recalled that Hagar reacted negatively to collaborating on the track, saying: Eruption, “Everyone thought it had incredible potential. Sammy called Mike (Anthony) one Sunday afternoon and said, ‘I heard Glen has some great ideas for the song.’ Then he called me that same night and suddenly he started screaming at me, ‘That’s a fucking insult! I’m not going to sing anyone else’s crap.'”
Although the group tried to compromise by having Hagar come into the studio to rewrite the lyrics, this was perhaps a step too far. Hagar was already struggling with Eddie forcing his way onto his lyric sheet, so perhaps this was like asking the guitarist to play a specific lick for part of the song.
But the writing was on the wall before the song even began. Looking at Hagar’s departure from both sides, you don’t really get the feeling that one person is the bad guy. This was just the case of some good friends who had slowly grown apart before suddenly breaking up at the very end.
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