Eddie Van Halen died 2 days ago. Now, I could turn this whole thing into how he was one of the best guitar players (if not the best) of all time and how he changed how the instrument was played and how his solos and feel would melt the face off of any genius guitar player ever and go song for song into how he also had a subtlety to his playing that is very unsung and how he was a hero of mine as a kid… but I’m not going to go there.
Where I am going to go is…I put on Van Halen’s 1982 release “Diver Down” the night he passed away and truly listened to what he did to the craft of guitar playing. I was staggered at the beauty of it. I then played a Van Halen song in class the next morning and was brought to tears during it. After class I was blindsided by a question… why is it we wait until we experience a catastrophe or loss to decide to truly appreciate something that was right under our noses the whole time? Are we wired like that or have we become that? Have we created a way of living that lends itself to speed over substance and diversion over devotion? We’re so busy getting ahead of the game that we forget to play.
I guarantee everyone reading this right now has an “Eddie moment”. A figurative Diver Down record in their life that they could benefit listening to right now. Something that is dying for you to take it out of the jacket cover and drop the needle on it to show you it’s hidden treasures. To rattle something inside you that needed to be stirred. We’re all cloaked with gifts in this modern world that we forget about and then something formidable happens to make us remember their allure. What’s your “Diver Down”? What do you have in the back of the closet or record collection that is dying to be rediscovered?
Who is that friend or family member that’s been on your mind lately that you haven’t reached out to because you’ve been too busy? Put them on the turntable, place the big ass 70’s headphones over your ears, plop into your bean bag and let the record that you’ve forgotten about play. Let them remind you how, at one time in your life, they were shredding the guitar solo under the flaming spotlight of your heart… just like Eddie. Don’t wait. RIP Edward Lodevijk Van Halen.
