You could say Sammy Hagar's new single "Encore, Thank You, Goodnight," is a dream come true.
Videos by Wide Open Country
The rock legend released the new song on April 25. It's a tribute to the late Eddie Van Halen, his former Van Halen band member. It's a brilliant, high-energy song that captures the spirit of Van Halen for sure.
When talking about the song, Sammy Hagar says that Van Halen appeared in his dream and helped make the song. That's right, this is literally the song of Hagar's dreams.
In the Instagram post announcing the single, Hagar wrote, "I can't wait for the world to hear this very special song Joe and I wrote as a long overdue thank you to Eddie Van Halen for the music, the good times, and the dream that inspired this track, 'Encore, Thank You, Goodnight.'"
Joe Satriani has worked with Sammy Hagar before, as they were both in the hard rock supergroup Chickenfoot.
The "dream" is only referenced in the Instagram post. However, he delved into more detail when speaking with Ultimate Classic Rock in 2022. It turns out Hagar wrote the song years ago, but is only finally cutting it now. At the time, it was only called "Thank You."
Sammy Hagar Reveals The Dream With Eddie Van Halen
Recounting his dream, Sammy Hagar said, "I had this dream and Eddie came. We were in a room like this, [with] a bunch of people around."
"It was just like he'd been gone. It was not like he was passed, but he had just been out of my life and we hadn't seen each other for a while. He's going, 'Man, let's write some music!' I said, 'Yeah, f--k it, man. Here, let's go!'"
"He had a guitar and he played me this thing. It was like this lick - [just like] the last lick that Eddie Van Halen showed me, when I went back for the [2004] reunion tour and when he was a mess. I said, 'Eddie, show me your newest s--t,' because every time I'd be around him I'd say, 'Show me your newest s--t.' He'd say, 'Oh, check this out!'"
Van Halen then "did this harmonic thing and he slid it up to a chord, like a slide guitar." And it's that lick that made the song. He got up in the morning and immediately wrote the song, centered on the lick Van Halen showed him in the dream.
"You see, I feel so embarrassed about it because everyone's going to say, 'Oh, look at Sammy trying to capitalize on Eddie.' No, I'm not. You don't understand. This was a real f--kin' dream, and I told you exactly what happened in it."
