China Town by Van Halen

Album: A Different Kind of Truth (2012)

License This Song

artistfacts

Songfacts®:

This unrelenting fantasy about gangland wars and call girls in the Lost Angles Chinatown district can best be summed up by its lead line, "headless body in a topless bar." The song is part of A Different Kind Of Truth, the last Van Halen album.
Performing this song onstage at the Forum in Los Angeles a few days before the release of A Different Kind Of Truth, Dave Lee Roth suddenly admitted half way through, "I forgot the fu--ing words!"

"Get to the chorus," the singer urged his bandmates. "I know a way."
Eddie Van Halen was famous for his tapping technique on guitar, but that tapping into that leads off the song was played by his son, Wolfgang Van Halen, who joined the band in 2007. Wolf told Songfacts it's a track he was able to "really able to insert my own flair into."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

More Songfacts:

My LifeBilly Joel

Billy Joel's "My Life" was used as the theme song to the 1980 TV show Bosom Buddies, which starred a young Tom Hanks as a guy who lives in a hotel for women by dressing up as a girl.

I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)The Four Tops

The Four Tops' "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)" was written by the Motown team of Lamont Dozier, Brian Holland and Eddie Holland. The phrase "Sugar pie, honey bunch" was something Dozier's grandfather used to say when he was a kid.

Fields Of GoldSting

Sting wrote "Fields of Gold" after buying a house near a barley field and enjoying the majestic sunsets.

Eyes Without A FaceBilly Idol

Billy Idol's "Eyes Without A Face" has a gruesome inspiration. It's based on a 1959 French movie about a surgeon who abducts young women and removes their facial features.

Invisible TouchGenesis

The Genesis song "Invisible Touch" was inspired by the Prince-written Sheila E. track "The Glamorous Life."

Killer QueenQueen

The Queen song "Killer Queen," according to lead singer Freddie Mercury, is about a high-class call girl.

Editor's Picks

Facebook, Bromance and Email - The First Songs To Use New WordsSong Writing

Where words like "email," "thirsty," "Twitter" and "gangsta" first showed up in songs, and which songs popularized them.

Incongruent Opening ActsSong Writing

Here's what happens when an opening act is really out of place with the headliner, like when Beastie Boys opened for Madonna.

Who Did It First?Music Quiz

Do you know who recorded the original versions of these ten hit songs?

Tony Joe WhiteSongwriter Interviews

The writer of "Rainy Night in Georgia" and "Polk Salad Annie" explains how he cooks up his Louisiana swamp rock.

David Clayton-Thomas of Blood, Sweat & TearsSongwriter Interviews

The longtime BS&T frontman tells the "Spinning Wheel" story, including the line he got from Joni Mitchell.

Susanna Hoffs - "Eternal Flame"They're Playing My Song

The Prince-penned "Manic Monday" was the first song The Bangles heard coming from a car radio, but "Eternal Flame" is closest to Susanna's heart, perhaps because she sang it in "various states of undress."