I love Van Halen. And like all intelligent people in the universe, I think David Lee Roth, their original (and again) singer is the real deal, while Sammy Hagar was, at best, an approximation. However…
Hagar and Van Halen recorded a song (from the 1986 album 5150) called “Love Walks In” that is pure Gospel, water in a land that is waste. Here’s a video of a live performance:
Why is this song so awesome? Check out the chorus:
…and then you sense a change,
nothin’ feels the same,
all your dreams are strange–
love comes walkin’ in.
some kind of alien
waits for the opening,
simply pulls a string–
love comes walkin’ in.
I mean, come on! Why don’t you just have an altar call, Sammy?
This chorus describes a conversion. The work of the Holy Spirit. Getting saved. Whatever you want to call it, Hagar describes how God turns you upside down, creates an opening, and then “love comes walkin’ in.” That is, God comes to you, in the person of Jesus, from outside yourself.
I can hear you asking: “Aaron, why else is this song so awesome?” Well, I’ll tell you. Hagar quotes Luther. According to Luther, God’s work is alien. As Hagar sang, “some kind of alien.” Luther talked about the opus alienum, Latin for the “alien work” of God. (Luther, by the way, was taking his cue from Isaiah 28:21: “For the LORD will rise up as on Mount Perazim, he will be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon; to do his deed–strange is his deed! and to work his work–alien is his work!”) What Luther meant is that through God’s strange crushing and killing work, shown clearly in the Law and our failure to fulfill it, God brings us to a place where we trust in Christ alone, finding our justification, our identity, in only Jesus and nothing we bring to the table.
So join me in thanking God for Sammy Hagar, his red pants, and this awesome song.
PS–this song is also awesome because the Van Halens are Dutch, and Alex Van Halen’s drum kit looks like an alien spaceship.
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15 responses to “The Redemption of Sammy Hagar”
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That’s right they’re Dutch!
I LOVE this!
i affirm everything about this post. thank you Aaron!
A great song, yes.
But I always thought Hagar was the real rocker, and Roth was more like a circus act.
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I know that i am late in posting but, It does not get any better than this. I mean think about jesus walking into the room where the disciples are waiting and him later turning to Thomas and saying touch and see I am not a Ghost/alien.
Keith Pozzuto
Hagar has admitted on many occasions that he believes he was abducted by real aliens — you know, the little green men from outer space. This song is about THAT and has absolutely nothing to do with God, Jesus or whatever else you are trying to project onto it.
Hi Jon,
I believe you are totally right that Hagar was not thinking about God when he wrote the song. But the emotional tenor of what he says evocatively describes the sudden turning that happens in conversion. And “love walks in” is a great phrase to describe how the Holy Spirit works in people’s hearts. I think this is a case where an artist (and a crazy one at that) hits on something bigger than realizes. Plus, I was just trying to be a little funny. Thanks for the comment.
First Sam is the real deal as far as musicians go. Dave is what he is. As for conversion and the song, I think you are correct, Sam is on a journey, and his abduction of “little green” men will eventually reveal to him that he was in contact with God and many of his songs are reflection of God pulling on his heart. Since writing this song I can confirm that Sam has in fact accepted Jesus as Lord and he is now a baby Christian. It will be interesting to see what comes out of his music in the future.
I recently saw an episode of Sammy Hagar: Rock-n-Roll Road Trip on AXS TV. The episode was titled ‘Carolina Rebellion’ & it featured a performance by Sammy’s band ‘The Circle’ at the Carolina Rebellion music festival in Charlotte, NC. Before the band went on stage, Sammy gathered everyone that was there in the backstage area into a large circle. Each person had their arms around the people next to them. There were a few people there that weren’t part of Sammy’s regular group and Sammy implored them to join the circle saying ‘C’mon I promise it won’t hurt a bit.” After the circle was completely formed, Sammy led the group in prayer. He closed the prayer by repeating the words of Jesus from John 11:25 three times. “I am the resurrection and the life.” After he had finished the prayer, he went over to the people that he had implored to join the circle and said ‘ Now that didn’t hurt did it?” I thought to myself “You go Sammy!”
It’s interesting that people are discussing whether or not this song has anything to do with God, Jesus and conversion. Most likely not. His cousin in Ken Tamplin who happens to be a very well known Christian rock/ hard rock artist who formed Shout, was in Joshua and has made several solo albums. Just an fyi. Not sure how religious Sammy is. Would love to know.
Hi Grant. I just saw this. Are you sure Sammy was praying and that he asked Jesus into his heart. I’ve been praying for him for a long time. This would be an answer/confirmation to prayer. Thanks. Linda McGilton mcgiltonl@tiffin.edu
Wedding song list.
Love comes walking in “vanhagar
“”Wedding song “bg’s
“Love” petra
“Just this kiss” lady antabelum.
I saw christian themes and love between a bride and a groom.it could hold true to describe christ and his church and his love to all if creation who dont know him yet.
Sammy sings about God and the trinity in many of his songs. I believe him to be of good faith in God.
The song is about an alien abduction . That’s what Sammy Hagar said .