Ballot Or The Bullet

Album: Van Halen III (1998)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Van Halen fans have long debated over who was the band's best lead singer, Sammy Hagar or David Lee Roth. But there is a little-known third option: Gary Cherone, who joined in 1996. Cherone, previously in the band Extreme, didn't launch the band into an exciting new era, as they hoped. He was with them for the 1998 Van Halen III album and subsequent tour, then left soon after. Eventually, Hagar returned to the band, then Roth.

    This is one of the more notable songs from the Cherone era. "Ballot Or The Bullet" is the tile of 1964 speech by Malcolm X where, in speaking of the civil rights struggle among Black Americans, said, "We're going to be forced either to use the ballot or the bullet."

    Van Halen was far from a political band, but this song saw them appropriating the Malcolm X speech to stir up action:

    The choice is up to you
    The ballot or the bullet
  • Van Halen fans didn't connect with the lyrics or lead vocals on this track, but Eddie Van Halen's guitar work was still on point. He didn't play a lot of slide guitar, but did on this one, showing just how versatile he was on the instrument. "There's a fantastic slide guitar solo on that song," Brad Tolinski, author of Eruption: Conversations with Eddie Van Halen, told Songfacts. "It almost makes you feel that Ed could have been playing slide guitar half of the time – it's just so good and so competent. For a guy who didn't play slide guitar that much, it's an amazing piece of work."

Comments: 1

  • Phoenix from UsA bunch of white guys singing Malcolm X "ballot or the bullet" like they're black and experienced the discrimination. I wonder why the lyrics didn't connect...
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Dave Pirner of Soul Asylum

Dave Pirner of Soul AsylumSongwriter Interviews

Dave explains how the video appropriated the meaning of "Runaway Train," and what he thought of getting parodied by Weird Al.

TV Theme Songs

TV Theme SongsFact or Fiction

Was a Beatles song a TV theme? And who came up with those Fresh Prince and Sopranos songs?

Pete Anderson

Pete AndersonSongwriter Interviews

Pete produced Dwight Yoakam, Michelle Shocked, Meat Puppets, and a very memorable track for Roy Orbison.

Shawn Mullins

Shawn MullinsSongwriter Interviews

"Lullaby" singer Shawn Mullins on "Beautiful Wreck," beating the Devil, and his writing credit on the Zac Brown Band song "Toes."

Penny Ford of Snap!

Penny Ford of Snap!Songwriter Interviews

The original voice of Snap! this story is filled with angry drag queens, video impersonators and Chaka Khan.

Arrested For Your Art - The Story Of 2 Live Crew's "Obscene" Album

Arrested For Your Art - The Story Of 2 Live Crew's "Obscene" AlbumSong Writing

In the summer of 1990, you could get arrested for selling a 2 Live Crew album or performing their songs in Southern Florida. And that's exactly what happened.