Van Halen: Jump Meaning

Song Released: 1984

Jump Lyrics

I get up, and nothing gets me down.
You got it tough. Ive seen the toughest around.
And I know, baby, just how you feel.
Youve got to roll with the punches to get to whats real
Oh cant you see me standing here,
Ive got my back against the...

1. 1TOP RATED

   #1 top rated interpretation:
   anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Jan 29th 2012 !⃝

   I have heard David Lee Roth wrote the song after seeing someone threaten suicide on a news story.

2. 2TOP RATED

   #2 top rated interpretation:
   CHAD

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Oct 3rd 2008 !⃝

   Definitely about carefree living for the moment,and not taking yourself so seriously.Take a careful listen to the very end of the song and you will hear the riff that would later become "Top Of The World" being played as the song fades out.

3. 3TOP RATED

   #3 top rated interpretation:
   anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Apr 20th 2018 !⃝

   The song "Jump" is very upbeat, making it seem to happy to be about suicide. However, this was the entire point. Van Halen wrote the song about suicide with the intentions of making it peppy and more upbeat. The lyrics are meant to be depressing. This leads to the question: "Why make a depressing song sound so upbeat?" The answer is actually quite simple- it's just another form of writing. There are hundreds of songs out there that have deep, dark meanings but sound happy. A lot of times, this is because more people will be interested in a peppy, upbeat song rather than a slow tempo song. so yes, the song "Jump" is actually quite sad, it's just written to sound happy for more views.
4. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Apr 19th 2021 !⃝

   Look up videos of Steve Harvey talking about the concept of having to "jump" in order to live life with your true purpose.
   
   You're welcome.
5. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Jan 6th 2021 !⃝

   A metal band making it sound like a good idea to kill yourself. Gee. I wonder why they would do something like that. "Metal isn't satanic" etc. Sure. Sure it isn't.

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
6. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Nov 9th 2020 !⃝

   " can't you see me here I got my back against the wreckin machine"...that means when you're up against a bully or about to get in a fight you jump or fight, that's what we used to say in the hood,
   "jump if you feel froggy"
7. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Nov 30th 2019 !⃝

   Eddie wrote the Music while on Tour in 1982. It was the night before the Louisville Stop. He actually played the Music , stating that He had been recently playing around with synthesizers. He played the Music, no lyrics yet during an online Phone interview with a Guitar Magazine after the Show . The Interview was recorded and lasted 1 1/2 hours.
8. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Mar 5th 2019 !⃝

   DLR was on his way to the studio. Got caught in traffic. Found out that it was a "jumper" that didn't. "Go ahead and Jump" was his take. He probably went faster than 55 to get there. :o)
9. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Feb 16th 2019 !⃝

   I get ... ... what's real
   
   This first para is about advice given to someone in a tight corner.
   
   Ah, can't you .... ... what I mean?
   
   Again asking the desperado to see the singer and give his hope.
   
   Ah, might as ... ... and jump
   
   The person is trying to make up his mind to jump.
   
   Ow oh, hey you (by the singer)
   Who said that? (by the person about to jump)
   Baby, how you been? (by the singer)
   You say you don't know (by the person about to jump)
   You won't know until you begin (by the singer: you will not know that life is not as difficult until you face it)
10. anonymous

    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5

    click a star to vote

    Dec 2nd 2014 !⃝

    A lot of people say this is about suicide...It's too happy to be like about something like that! The keyboard really sounds fun. I believe "Jump" is a metaphor for "screw it, live life and forget the haters." Pretty much an 80's version of that slang term lol. ;p I love Van Halen...too bad they broke up..Sammy Hagar is good but he should stick to I Can't Drive 55....
11. anonymous

    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5

    click a star to vote

    Jun 9th 2012 !⃝

    Live life to the fullest.
12. anonymous

    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5

    click a star to vote

    Jun 16th 2009 !⃝

    These lyrics are what signaled the end of Van Halen as a hard rock band and the beginning of Van Halen as a pop rock band. They would go on to change singers and sell millions of records but never would recapture the "buzz" they had from 1978-1983

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
13. anonymous

    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5

    click a star to vote

    Jan 8th 2009 !⃝

    Ah... There is something about the sound of that synthesizer that just tells you that this song is from 1984. I think the song is telling the listener to just be happy ["I get up, and nothing gets me down"]. Dont' worry about everything. Be happy, be joyful, just jump.
14. Roxxi

    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5

    click a star to vote

    Jun 23rd 2008 !⃝

    The word jump is a verb. The song is basically about having FUN!!

Latest Articles

• 
  A new era for Millennial favorite, Linkin Park
• 
  Anime to watch for the soundtracks… and other reasons you’re undateable
• 
  Dolly, we need you
• 
  The Stranger Things Effect: How new media is drawing Gen Z and Alpha's attention to aging media
• 
  The most underrated soundtrack of the early 2000s
• 
  Buy the Soundtrack, Skip the Movie: Brainscan (1994)