Pretty Womxn: The Untold Story of Van Halen’s Fight For Intersectionality
Los Angeles, 11AM, Feb 4th 1982: David Lee Roth tosses back a dixie cup full of Jack Daniel’s, his fourth of the recording session, and sets the empty vessel on top of Eddie Van Halen’s Marshall stack. Roth has been the driving force for what will be the band’s fifth album, Diver Down. In a transition from the band’s previous efforts, 5 of the 12 tracks will consist of covers including ‘Where Have All The Good Times Gone!’, ‘Dancing In the Street’, ‘Big Bad Bill (Is Sweet William Now)’, ‘Happy Trails’, and the classic Roy Orbison ballad, ‘(Oh) Pretty Woman’. Van Halen isn’t entirely new to cover songs. They found success with their cover of The Kinks ‘You Really Got Me’ on their 1978 self-titled debut. But to feature so many covers on their highly anticipated upcoming album is definitely a bold move, but then again, David Lee Roth is a bold man.
Diver Down would go on to spend 65 weeks on the Billboard charts and by 1998, would sell over 4 million copies in the United States. The album is adored by fans across the world and their take on ‘(Oh) Pretty Woman’ is revered as one of the greatest covers since Jimi Hendrix recorded Bob Dylan’s ‘All Along The Watchtower’.
But to this day the band refuses to listen to the song.
Why?
Were they dissatisfied with the final result?
David Lee Roth explains:
“When we decided to record ‘Pretty Woman’ we had initially intended to release it under the title ‘Pretty Womxn’. I mean, it’s 1982 people! Isn’t it about time we start using more inclusive and empowering language? I even got Roy Orbison on the horn to ask for permission. He was hesitant at first but after I explained to him that the term “womxn” is inclusive to trans womxn, womxn of color, and basically reclaims the word “woMAN”, he was entirely on board. It was ultimately the record label execs at Warner Brothers that shot us down. Bastards. I remember seeing the disappointment on Eddie and Alex’s faces when they saw the official album tracklisting. I guess you can’t win ’em all, but hell, if we lose, we’re goin’ out kickin’ and screaming’!”
In addition to abstaining from listening to the song, Van Halen and the Roy Orbison estate donate all royalties to The Womxn Project, a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing what are seen as womxn’s rights within a human rights-based framework.
Sadly, this is not the first time that patriarchal record label executives have stood in the way of intersectionality. On the Eagles debut album, Don Henley originally wrote ‘Witchy Woman’ as ‘Witchy Womxn’ but Asylum Records refused to release it unless they changed the spelling. And let’s not forget how The Doors were planning on releasing ‘L.A. Womxn’, which would be their final album with vocalist/founder Jim Morrison. Elektra records ruined this attempt to smash the patriarchy by changing the spelling right before the vinyl was pressed. Many to this day believe that this personal defeat led to Morrison’s death in July of 1971.
These may seem like setbacks but Van Halen and other artists deserve recognition for standing up against the patriarchy and bringing to surface a topic that desperately needed to be discussed. It is presumed that Van Halen’s fight for intersectionality is what initiated the exodus from major labels into the promised land of soon to be called ‘indie’ labels, which provide artists with significantly more creative control over their product.
David Lee Roth’s handwritten lyric sheet with the proper spelling of “Womxn” is on display at Seattle’s Experience Music Project along with several other relics of the band’s history.
Warner Brothers, EMI, RCA, and Capitol Records are yet to release an apology, but their true punishment is in having to live with the fact that they were all on the wrong side of history. A harsh reality check if ever I’ve seen one.
