Song of the Day: September 27th, 2021

Song: Jump (1983)
Artist: Van Halen
Album: 1984

Sorry, but I have to put my Semantics Police badge on for this one. Despite "Jump" being on the album 1984, which was released in January of 1984, the single for "Jump" came out on December 21st, 1983, so it's a 1983 song in my eyes. I was born in December of 91; I don't say I was born in '92 just because that's when a decent chunk of my family met me for the first time, as I vividly remember. That analogy might suck, but it's staying in!

Given the image of The Falling Man and others who chose to jump over burning alive (I'd probably do the same thing), it's pretty fucking obvious how "Jump" earned a spot on the Clear Channel memo. Much like some other artists with only a few songs on the list I've written about this September, I'm a little surprised there wasn't more from Van Halen's catalog. "Running with the Devil" comes to mind almost immediately; I feel like "Jamie's Crying" could trigger some emotions in the wake of 9/11 as well. Hell, even "Finish What Ya Started" could've seemed like a troll to those who thought/hoped the first plane was an accident.

It's not all bad news with today's SOD, I feel like I've heard this before, but seeing it on the Jump wiki page joggled my memory---I loooove that Hall and Oates basically said we don't care like Stephen A. in regards to Eddie Van Halen admitting he stole the "Kiss on My List" synth line and used it in "Jump." While I can see both sides of the argument regarding credit, I fall in the camp of art inspires other artists, and there are only so many chord/riff combos. Poor Olivia!