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{{About||the 1937 musical|The Cradle Will Rock|the 1999 film|Cradle Will Rock}}
{{Infobox song
| name = And the Cradle Will Rock...
| cover = Van Halen - And the Cradle Will Rock.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = [[Van Halen]]
| album = [[Women and Children First]]
| B-side = *"Could This Be Magic?" (U.S./Japan)<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.loudersound.com/news/van-halen-the-japanese-singles-vinyl-collection-revealed |title=Van Halen: ''The Japanese Singles'' vinyl collection revealed |first=Scott |last=Munro |magazine=[[Classic Rock (magazine)|Classic Rock]] |date=September 16, 2019 |access-date=February 28, 2025}}</ref>
*"[[Everybody Wants Some!! (song)|Everybody Wants Some!!]]" (UK)
| released = {{start date|1980|04}} (US)<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/greatrockdiscogr00stro/page/866/mode/2up|title=The Great Rock Discography|year=1995|page=866 |isbn=9780862415419 |last1=Strong |first1=Martin Charles |publisher=Canongate Press }}</ref>
| recorded = December 1979{{snd}}February 1980
| studio = [[Sunset Sound Recorders]], [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]]
| genre = [[Hard rock]]
| length = 3:31
| label = [[Warner Records|Warner Bros.]]
| writer = {{hlist|[[Michael Anthony (musician)|Michael Anthony]]|[[David Lee Roth]]|[[Alex Van Halen]]|[[Eddie Van Halen|Edward Van Halen]]}}
| producer = [[Ted Templeman]]
| prev_title = [[Beautiful Girls (Van Halen song)|Beautiful Girls]]
| prev_year = 1979
| next_title = [[So This Is Love? (song)|So This Is Love?]]
| next_year = 1981
| misc = {{External music video|header=Audio|{{YouTube|11mBDT5mpdw|"And the Cradle Will Rock..."}}}}
}}

"'''And the Cradle Will Rock...'''" is a song written and performed by [[Van Halen]]. It appears on their [[1980 in music|1980]] album ''[[Women and Children First]]'' and was released as a single. It is also the first song released by the band that featured the keyboard playing of [[Eddie Van Halen]].

==Composition==
The song begins with what sounds like a guitar, but is, in fact, a flanger-effected [[Wurlitzer electric piano]] played through Eddie Van Halen's 1960s model 100-[[watt]] [[Marshall Amplification|Marshall]] Plexi [[amplifier]].<ref>{{cite web | url =http://www.vhnd.com/women-and-children-first/and-the-cradle-will-rock/ | title=And The Cradle Will Rock... |access-date= 24 April 2015 |work = Van Halen News Desk | date=14 April 2013 }}</ref>

During live performances on the 1980 tour, [[Michael Anthony (musician)|Michael Anthony]] would play the keyboards.

==Reception==
''[[Cash Box]]'' called the song a "tongue-in-cheek anthem," saying that "David Lee Roth's acrobatic vocal leaps are in fine form," that Eddie Van Halen provides "sonic lead guitar blasts" and that the song has "industrial strength rhythms."<ref name=cb>{{cite news|title=CashBox Singles Reviews|date=May 24, 1980|page=21|newspaper=Cash Box|accessdate=2022-01-01|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/80s/1980/CB-1980-05-24.pdf}}</ref>

[[Chuck Klosterman]] ranked it the 50th-best Van Halen song, writing "I’ve always found it a bit ponderous and uncompromisingly average, but I’ve also listened to it somewhere in the vicinity of 8,000 times."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Klosterman |first1=Chuck |title=All 131 Van Halen Songs, Ranked From Worst to Best A look back at the band's formidable legacy. |url=https://www.vulture.com/article/best-van-halen-songs-chuck-klosterman.html |access-date=October 10, 2020 |work=[[Vulture.com]] |date=October 6, 2020}}</ref>

[[Eric Carr]] of [[Kiss (band)|KISS]] played "And the Cradle Will Rock..." along with Van Halen's cover of "[[You Really Got Me]]" as part of his audition tape, which successfully led to his becoming the new drummer for KISS.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/eric-carr-s-original-kiss-audition-tape-being-auctioned/ | title=ERIC CARR's Original KISS Audition Tape Being Auctioned |access-date= 24 April 2015 |work = Blabbermouth.com | date=20 May 2005 }}</ref>{{Importance inline|date=October 2022}}

==Charts==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Chart (1980)
!Peak<br />position
|-
|Canada ([[RPM (magazine)|''RPM'']])<ref name="rpm">[http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-110.01-e.php?PHPSESSID=8p5k1rerala3n6bajf4aqaqc95&q1=Van+Halen&q2=Top+Singles&interval=20 Canadian peaks] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141213222624/http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-110.01-e.php?PHPSESSID=8p5k1rerala3n6bajf4aqaqc95&q1=Van+Halen&q2=Top+Singles&interval=20|date=December 13, 2014}} RPM – Library and Archives</ref>
|align="center"|81
|-
|US [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]]<ref>{{cite book |title= Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles, 14th Edition: 1955-2012 |last=Whitburn |first=Joel |authorlink=Joel Whitburn |year=2013 |publisher=Record Research |page=879}}</ref>
|align="center"|55
|}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book|title=Van Halen Guitar Anthology|pages=68–75|publisher=Alfred|location=Van Nuys, California|year=2006|isbn=9780897246729|oclc=605214049}}

{{Van Halen}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:And The Cradle Will Rock...}}
[[Category:Van Halen songs]]
[[Category:1980 singles]]
[[Category:Song recordings produced by Ted Templeman]]
[[Category:Songs written by Michael Anthony (musician)]]
[[Category:Songs written by Alex Van Halen]]
[[Category:Songs written by Eddie Van Halen]]
[[Category:Songs written by David Lee Roth]]
[[Category:1980 songs]]
[[Category:Warner Records singles]]

{{1980s-rock-song-stub}}

And the Cradle Will Rock... - Revision history

imported>Areaseven at 09:56, 28 February 2025