The 1991 hit song that tested Eddie Van Halen’s patience: “Like pulling teeth”
Eddie Van Halen’s mastery of the guitar often seemed otherworldly, with his innovative solos and unparalleled technique setting him apart from his peers.
Despite his ability to push musical boundaries with each Van Halen album, Eddie confessed that bringing the song ‘Right Now’ to fruition was no easy feat.
Then again, Van Halen had already pulled off a miracle before they had even begun on For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge. While the loss of David Lee Roth should have crippled any band, Eddie ploughed forward with solo superstar Sammy Hagar, leading to a total rebirth of the group’s sound on the album 5150.
Despite the fact that everything seemed to be perfect in theory, tensions started arising the minute that the band started to gain traction. Across OU812, Hagar remembered it being a painful experience trying to get the album off the ground, thinking that they had no direction since there wasn’t a producer at the helm.
Once they moved their way into the 1990s, their next project would feature the return of their longtime producer, Ted Templeman. Known for his work with the Roth-fronted era of the band, For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge launched them back into the stratosphere the right way, featuring songs that featured glimpses of their earlier material like on ‘Judgement Day’.
“There are certain things that I fight for because I do write all the music.”
Eddie Van Halen
Out of all the songs on the record, it was clear that ‘Right Now’ was the sure-fire hit. Stemming from Hagar not wanting to be called into work when sitting at the beach, the lyrics about capturing a magic moment blended perfectly with Eddie’s piano lick. There was just one small problem…getting Hagar to get the best take of it.
When talking about recording the track, Eddie remembered just how painful it was trying to get Hagar to commit to the right vocal track, telling Forbes, “Alex and I tracked the whole thing. Certain people didn’t want to be a part of it…it was like pulling teeth to get the person to sing the damn song. And there are certain things that I fight for because I do write all the music. So I think I have a little bit of say in how things should go.”
Hagar would also remember that he had problems settling into the groove of the song. Even though he came up with the lyric, Eddie kept insisting that the tune should sound more like the Joe Cocker track ‘Feelin’ Alright’, which never sat well with Hagar’s vision until months into the project.
Part of the reason the track became so difficult was that both men were approaching it from completely different angles. Eddie heard ‘Right Now’ as an emotional, slow-burning anthem driven by feel and dynamics, whereas Hagar initially leaned towards something more direct and melodic. Their disagreements over phrasing and delivery reflected the broader creative friction that often existed during the Van Hagar era, despite the enormous success they enjoyed together.
Even so, the tension ultimately sharpened the final result. The combination of Eddie’s dramatic piano arrangement and Hagar’s urgent vocal gave the song a weight that separated it from many other rock ballads of the era.
By the time the accompanying black-and-white music video arrived, complete with its socially conscious messages flashing across the screen, ‘Right Now’ had evolved beyond a standard arena-rock single into one of Van Halen’s defining moments of the 1990s.
While this was far from the fretboard acrobatics of the band’s early days, ‘Right Now’ would become one of the most successful works that they ever made, having the ability to play ballads just as well as they could heavy rock songs. Eddie may not have had fond memories of putting the piece together, but sometimes, the best tracks are the ones that are worth a little bit of musical elbow grease.
