Jump!

I don't doubt that the song was inspired by a man about to jumpt to his death, HOWEVER, I think that DLR is saying to the man about to jump, "You think you've got it tough? I've seen the toughest around", gotta roll with the punches to get to what's real, and so on.

Go ahead, jump to your death if you must, but I'm jumping too, into the unknown.

Given that this was the point where Dave left the band to strike out (very successfully, for a time) on his own, I think that, for Dave, the song is about taking the leap of faith to do his own thing.

Instead of standing with his back to the wall of a building on a ledge, Dave has his back against the record machine, full of all his past successes with Van Halen. Go ahead...JUMP!

And, as we all know, he did!

"You've got it tough, I've seen the toughest around"

Explanation: You think as a person that you've had a tough time wtih your life, take a walk in my shoes and see how you like it. Everything isn't as bad as it seems, it could be much worse.

"You've got to roll with the punches to get to what's real"

Explanation: Life is always giving you tough choices and siutations. If you can handle them, then you are much better off.

It seems that the interview that you have posted supports my opinion. Dave is talking about how the song became so popular because of the fact that when people think of Jumping, they tend to think of "jumping for joy" not jumping to one's death. That is what he thinks the listener of the song is attributing the lyrics to, a happy, rather than "dark and insidious" emotion.

"So, I wrote it down and ultimately it made in onto the record, although in a much more positive vein. It's easy to translate it the way you hear it on the record as a "go for it" attitude, positive sort of affair - I jog, therefore, I am, approach. "

It is correct that he says it made it on the record in a much more positive vein, but in the context of the interview, he is explaining that that's not really what the song is about. He then talks about how simple it is to translate the song the way you hear from the record instead of really contemplating the lyrics meaning (I jog, therefore, I am, approach). Which is what you have done and most other listeners of the song have done. Thinking one specific thing and not really looking any deeper into what the song means. The music to the song is "kick ass" and makes you want to dance and have a good time, which ultimately contributes to the general consensus that this SHOULD be a happy song.

Oh, and I never said it was a "pro-suicide song". I explained that the song is written about an attempted suicide.

Chinup, you seem to sound quite intelligent. At least understand that the reason this website exists is that song lyrics are quite subjective in nature. Some don't make any sense when explained, but it's fun to try and reason what they might be about.

This song is about a girl...He wants her to come over to him as he is standing by the record machine...

Hawkgold, you've explained nothing about what is so dark and insidious about the two lines you used as an example. They're very positive lines, any way you read it. Roth has explained this song time and time again.

From http://www.vhlinks.com/pages/interviews/dlr/rv0784.php

LR: Were you surprised that you had a #1 single with "Jump"?

David Lee Roth: "Jump" is a song that we wrote for several different reasons, primarily because it is leap year and secondly, because I was watching television one night and it was the five o'clock news and there was a fellow standing on top of the Arco Towers in Los Angeles and he was about to check out early, he was going to do the 33 stories drop - and there was a whole crowd of people in the parking lot downstairs yelling "Don't jump, don't jump" and I thought to myself, "Jump." So, I wrote it down and ultimately it made in onto the record, although in a much more positive vein. It's easy to translate it the way you hear it on the record as a "go for it" attitude, positive sort of affair - I jog, therefore, I am, approach.

Not about suicide.

He may have wrote it because he was thinking about how he wanted someone to commit suicide, but like he said, he spinned it into a positive song. The song IS about getting over your fears and "jumping", that is, instead of dipping your toes into the water, do a cannonball and take life head on without worry or regrets.

"You've got it tough, I've seen the toughest all around"

• This means everybody's problems are really the same, not saying that there's no difference between your kid dying or your ice cream melting, but that we all have traumas in life.

"You've got to roll with punches to get to what's real"

• Life for the moment, don't think about tomorrow, just let it happen and make decisions as it happens, take things as they come and don't act like it's the end of the world.

kailkay, you ignored Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clatpon's god Robert Johnson?

If you want to know what the song is really about you have to do two things:

1. Remember who David Lee Roth is and what he has always been about (sex)
2. Listen to the words, when he sings, Can't you see me standin' here I got my back against the record machine, "I ain't the worst that you've seen" Ah, can't you see what I mean? Ah, might as well jump

He's basically saying he met a girl who doesn't know him and why not take a chance with him (jump).

More relative lyrics to support my opinion: Who said that? Baby, how you been? You say you don't know. You won't know until you begin.

It's all about sex.

Was it inspired by a news story about suicide? Probably, but only because he was looking for lyrics to tie the song together. The word "Jump" probably "jumped" at him and he probably said "Aha! That's what I needed to tie it together.

And, I'm not so sure that he is singing "You GOT it tough." Sounds more like he's singing "You KINDA tough. I've seen the toughest around," as in tough-acting ladies.

And, as for "rolling with the punches," he's probably talking about getting rejected after using the "I ain't the worst that you've seen, jump" pickup line so often. And, hinting to the guys to just "Jump" and don't worry about getting rejected.

What is suicidal about these lyrics?

Nothing and everything all at once...

Chinup... At first look, yes the lyrics seem pretty harmless and because of it's reputation, the song has become devoid of any real meaning. I thought it silly when I heard this explanation, but when you see that "you got it tough, I've seen the toughest around" and "you've got to roll with the punches to get to what's real" there is certainly more to just jumping in the air...

Most songwriters really don't come out right away and say what their song is about, that's why websites like this one exist.

hawkgold: Explanation: You think as a person that you've had a tough time wtih your life, take a walk in my shoes and see how you like it. Everything isn't as bad as it seems, it could be much worse.

Explanation: Life is always giving you tough choices and siutations. If you can handle them, then you are much better off.

it seems to me these are both very positive, life-affirming explanations/messages. I don't get "dark and insidious" from this.

That is what he thinks the listener of the song is attributing the lyrics to, a happy, rather than "dark and insidious" emotion.

As I said in my first comment, Roth is playing with the phrase "go ahead and jump", and positively twisting around something about suicide. It's a very happy and positive song, juxtaposed with a "dark" subject.

When you said: deciding that he can't take it anymore and decides to jump to his death. I took it to mean you thought it was a pro-suicide song. Maybe I was wrong, but you're the one that seems incapable of subjectivity here, assuming that when he says "go ahead and jump", that someone's literally plunging to their death, just because the song's inspiration was a suicide attempt. There's nothing you can tell me to make me believe that Roth didn't know that people wouldn't take this phrase in a positive way. That was his entire point - it's just a clever little play on words. It's really not that fucking deep of a song.

My husband won a high school dance contest to this song on our first date 2-5-1983 by doing those David Lee Roth jumps so well. I love the conversation between Chinup and Hawkgold [back in 2005] on this song. I always saw the song as positive..."Jump" meaning "Go for it!" If my husband had not taken that "jump" [risk] and asked me to the dance, he would not have me now... 28+ years later. Confidence can make all the difference in your life. You will never get what you don't go for.

At least realize that my original intention when commenting on this song was to state that this song WAS INDEED inspired by a situation involving a suicide.

And, my own fault being that I stated that the "person" in this song "jumps to his death", what I should have said, was this person is contemplating jumping, maybe thinking that's the best solution.

David Lee Roth: "Jump" is a song that we wrote for several different reasons, primarily because it is leap year and secondly, because I was watching television one night and it was the five o'clock news and there was a fellow standing on top of the Arco Towers in Los Angeles and he was about to check out early, he was going to do the 33 stories drop - and there was a whole crowd of people in the parking lot downstairs yelling "Don't jump, don't jump" and I thought to myself, "Jump." So, I wrote it down and ultimately it made in onto the record, although in a much more positive vein. It's easy to translate it the way you hear it on the record as a "go for it" attitude, positive sort of affair - I jog, therefore, I am, approach.

Chinup- the above statement was typed by yourself. When David says that the song "ultimately made it onto the record, although(keyword in this statement) in a much more positive vein. It's easy to translate it the way you hear it on the record as a "go for it" attitude, positive sort of affair - I jog, therefore, I am, approach." he's explaining that most people have attached a certain label and attitude towards this song. When he talks about the "jogging", he is stating that people have taken this song at face value BECAUSE of the music. It's not neccesarily a "happy" song.

Just like "Every Breath You Take" by the Police is certainly a romantic sounding song, the original intent of the writer, Sting, was of a more dark, brooding, sinister flavor than what people have ultimately attached meaning towards it.

I think there is a happy medium here. David also contends that it was leap year when they wrote the song, so, really your contention that it is a play on words has merit, though the way the song SOUNDS isn't necessarily what the song is about.

This sure has been fun, I appreciate it. Now let's discuss Oh Sherrie by Steve Perry and try and find any hidden, subversive meanings within that. I might be able to find some...