And the Cradle Will Rock...

"And the Cradle Will Rock..." is a song written and performed by Van Halen. It appears on their 1980 album Women and Children First. It was one of two singles from the album; the other is the B-side "Everybody Wants Some!!". It is also the first song released by the band that featured the keyboard playing of Eddie Van Halen.

For the 1937 musical, see The Cradle Will Rock. For the 1999 film, see Cradle Will Rock.
"And the Cradle Will Rock..."
Single by Van Halen
from the album Women and Children First
B-side
ReleasedMay 1980
RecordedDecember 1979-February 1980[1]
GenreHard rock
Length3:31
LabelWarner Bros.
Songwriter(s)Michael Anthony, Alex Van Halen, Eddie Van Halen, David Lee Roth.
Producer(s)Ted Templeman
Van Halen singles chronology
"Beautiful Girls"
(1979)		 "And the Cradle Will Rock..."
(1980)		 "So This Is Love?"
(1981)
Audio
"And the Cradle Will Rock..." on YouTube

Chuck Klosterman of Vulture.com ranked it the 50th-best Van Halen song, writing "I’ve always found it a bit ponderous and uncompromisingly average, but I’ve also listened to it somewhere in the vicinity of 8,000 times."[2]

Composition

The song begins with what sounds like a guitar, but is, in fact, a flanger-effected Wurlitzer electric piano played through Eddie Van Halen's 1960s model 100-watt Marshall Plexi amplifier.[3] During live performances on the 1980 tour, Michael Anthony would play the keyboards.

The bridge includes a spoken line by David Lee Roth: "Have you seen Junior's grades?" For some performances on the band's 2007–2008 tour, he changed this line to "Have you seen Wolfie's grades?"—a reference to Wolfgang Van Halen, Eddie's son and the band's bassist since 2006.

Eric Carr of KISS played "And the Cradle Will Rock..." along with Van Halen's cover of "You Really Got Me" as part of his audition tape, which successfully led to his becoming the new drummer for KISS.[4]

References
  1. "AesthetiX Choice: Top 20 Van Halen Songs". Listal.com. Listal.com. 10 March 2014. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
  2. Klosterman, Chuck (October 6, 2020). "All 131 Van Halen Songs, Ranked From Worst to Best A look back at the band's formidable legacy". Vulture.com. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
  3. "And The Cradle Will Rock..." Van Halen News Desk. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
  4. "ERIC CARR's Original KISS Audition Tape Being Auctioned". Blabbermouth.com. Retrieved 24 April 2015.

Further reading
  • Van Halen Guitar Anthology. Van Nuys, California: Alfred. 2006. pp. 68–75. ISBN 9780897246729. OCLC 605214049.



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