Amsterdam

This song, from the Balance album caused quite a bit of trouble within the band. The lyrics, which Sammy Hagar wrote, used the word Amsterdam as a synonym for marijuana and, some felt, glorified drug use. It's rumored that this was an insult to the Van Halens, since Amsterdam was the birthplace of Eddie and Alex. Eddie publicly denounced the chorus in the March 1998 issue of Guitar World magazine.

MTV refused to play the video for this song because of the lyrics. Sammy rerecorded the lyrics on 04/04/95, but MTV still refused to play the video. It was also left off Video Hits Volume 1.

Filming of the video took place on 01/28/95, while the band walked through the red-light district of Amsterdam during the European promotional tour in support of Balance. The band stopped at Hanky Panky's Tattoo Studio, where Sammy had his Bogus Otis tattoo reinked and Edward received his very first tattoo: the Van Halen logo with "Wolfgang" over the top.