Finish What Ya Started

{{Infobox song

| name = Finish What Ya Started

| cover = Van Halen - Finish What Ya Started.jpg

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = Van Halen

| album = OU812

| B-side = Sucker in a 3 Piece

| released = September 1988

| format =

| recorded = 1987–1988

| studio = 5150 Studios, Studio City, California

| venue =

| genre =

Country rock,{{Cite web|date=2020-10-07|title=Eddie Van Halen's Influence, Genius Changed Music and the Possibilities of Art|url=https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/eddie-van-halen-tribute-genius/|access-date=2021-02-10|website=Hollywood in Toto|language=en-US|quote=...to country (“Finish What Ya Started”)}}{{Cite magazine|last=Fricke|first=David|date=1988-06-30|title=OU812|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/ou812-250509/|access-date=2021-04-11|magazine=Rolling Stone|language=en-US}}
blues rock
Americana{{cite book |last1=Brown |first1=Morgan |title=On Track ... Van Halen: Every Album, Every Song |date=2023 |publisher=Sonic Bond Publishing |location=England |isbn=978-1-78952-256-3 |page=87}}

| length = 04:20

| label = Warner Bros.

| writer = {{flatlist |

| producer = {{hlist|Van Halen|Donn Landee}}

| prev_title = When It's Love

| prev_year = 1988

| next_title = Feels So Good

| next_year = 1989

}}

"Finish What Ya Started" is a song by Van Halen taken from their 1988 album OU812.

Background

Despite the album being seemingly complete, Eddie Van Halen came up with the riff at 2 in the morning and went down to his then-neighbor Sammy Hagar to show it. Hagar let Eddie in, and the two played guitars in his balcony until they had a completed song. Once Eddie left, Hagar decided to write the lyrics despite being late at night. The theme wound up being sex without orgasm, summed up by Hagar as "blue balls".{{cite book |last=Christe |first=Ian |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RUsfiiCWvLkC&pg=PT177 |title=Everybody Wants Some: The Van Halen Saga |publisher=Wiley |year=2009 |isbn=9780470536186}}{{page needed|date=February 2023}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o_D0U4o1sMsC&pg=PA146|title=Edward Van Halen: A Definitive Biography|pages=146|first=Kevin|last=Dodds|date=12 October 2011|publisher=iUniverse |isbn=9781462054817}} In the song, Eddie recorded his guitar part on a Fender Stratocaster plugged direct into the studio mixing console. The song is one of only two Van Halen tracks featuring Hagar playing a rhythm guitar part, which he played on a Gibson acoustic.{{citation needed|date=November 2015}}

Music video

The official music video for the song was directed by Andy Morahan.{{cite web|url=http://www.mvdbase.com/video.php?id=28950|title=Van Halen - 'Finish what ya started'|work=Music Video DataBase|last=Garcia|first=Alex S|access-date=November 1, 2015}} It features the band playing against a plain white background with quick cuts to women dancing. The version of the song on their 2004 compilation The Best of Both Worlds stops midway through the outro, unlike the fade out on the OU812 version.

Charts

class="wikitable sortable"

!align="left"|Chart (1988–89)

!align="left"|Peak
position

align="left"|US Billboard Hot 100{{Cite magazine |title=Van Halen |url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/van-halen/chart-history/hsi/ |magazine=Billboard}}

|align="center"|13

align="left"|US Billboard Mainstream Rock{{Cite magazine |title=Van Halen: Mainstream Rock Airplay |url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/van-halen/chart-history/hsi/ |magazine=Billboard}}

|align="center"|2

Reception

Cash Box called it "a remarkable single...that owes more to T-Rex and Creedence than to a Whitesnake."{{cite magazine|title=Single Releases|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/80s/1988/CB-1988-10-01.pdf|magazine=Cash Box|date=October 1, 1988|accessdate=2022-12-22|page=12}}

In 1988, the song peaked at #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #2 on the Billboard rock chart.

In popular culture

The song was later used as theme music for the short-lived 1990 sitcom Sydney, which starred Eddie Van Halen's then-wife, Valerie Bertinelli.