‘Unchained’ is a song from Van Halen's fourth album, Fair Warning. The song was released as a single in various countries, including Germany, Spain, and Japan. It's not quite as famous as ‘Jump’ or ‘Hot for Teacher,’ but ‘Unchained’ has frequently been voted the favorite song of Van Halen fans. A 2011 Rolling Stone reader's poll placed the song at number one on a list of the 10 best Van Halen songs.
It's not all that clear what's going on in this song, but it sure does rock. The lyric is mostly an exercise in vocal dexterity, with the line "blue-eyed murder in a side-swiped dress" leading into the rousing chorus. The song was a live favorite for the band. Vocalist David Lee Roth's working title for the song was "Hit the Ground Running". The song features prominent use of the MXR M-117 flanger, which became a popular sound and spurred sales of the pedal.
In the middle of this song, David Lee Roth makes fun of an executive that walked into the studio while they were recording it ("that suit is YOU..."). Roth would add commentary on a separate track while the band played the instrumental parts, and his comments were sometimes added to the mix ("Everybody Wants Some!!" is an example). The voice that says, "Come on, Dave, gimme a break," is their producer, Ted Templeman.
When Van Halen released their album 1984, they crossed over to the pop realm, but Fair Warning, released in 1981 (the same year Eddie Van Halen married Valerie Bertinelli), was very much a rock album. No singles were released from the album, but ‘Unchained’ got lots of airplay on Album Oriented Rock (AOR) stations, which were prevalent at the time, and it endured as a setlist staple. Chuck Klosterman of Vulture.com named it the second-best Van Halen song, writing that it "merely feels like insatiable straight-ahead rock, but the lick is freaky, obliquely hovering above the foundation while the drums oscillate between two unrelated performance philosophies."
Label – Warner Bros.
Songwriters – Edward Van Halen, Alex Van Halen, Michael Anthony, David Lee Roth
Producer – Ted Templeman
SONG LYRICS
[Intro]All right!
Haaa ha ha ha!
[Verse 1]
You say, I cannot get there from here, baby
And I don't care where I'm goin'
Here's to your thin red line
Mmm, I'm stepping over
[Pre-Chorus]
Thought you'd never miss me till I got a fat city address
Non-stop talker, what a rocker
Blue-eyed murder in a size five dress
[Chorus]
Change, nothin' stays the same
Unchained, and you hit the ground runnin'
Change, ain't nothin' stays the same
Unchained, yeah, you hit the ground runnin'
[Verse 2]
No, I don't ask for permission
This is my chance to fly
Maybe enough ain't enough for you
But it's my turn at a try
[Pre-Chorus]
Thought you'd never miss me till I got a fat city address
Non-stop talker, what a rocker
Blue-eyed murder in a size five dress
[Chorus]
Change, nothin' stays the same
Unchained, and you hit the ground runnin'
Change, ain't nothin' stays the same
Unchained, yeah, you hit the ground runnin'
[Guitar Solo]
[Chorus]
Change, nothin' stays the same
Unchained, yeah, you hit the ground runnin'
Change, ain't nothin' stays the same
Unchained, yeah, you hit the ground runnin'
[Bridge]
Woo hoo! Take a look at this!
Hey, man, that suit is you!
Woo-whee! You'll get some leg tonight for sure!
Tell us how you do! Hoo hoo hoo!
(Come on, Dave, give me a break)
Hey, hey, hey, hey! One break, comin' up!
[Chorus]
Change, ain't nothin' stays the same
Unchained, yeah, you hit the ground runnin'
Changed, ain't nothin' stays the same
Unchained, yeah, you hit the ground runnin'
Change, ain't nothin' stays the same
Unchained, yeah, you hit the ground runnin'
Change, ain't nothin' stays the same
Unchained