The song reflects on living for the moment and not being afraid of making a change. According to Eddie, the instrumental dates back to , "before I wrote " Jump " — it didn't come out until about '92, '93 or something like that, cause nobody wanted anything to do with it. Eddie also stated that before Hagar was hired to replace David Lee Roth , he considered an album that would feature various guest singers, with Joe Cocker assigned to "Right Now". Vocalist Sammy Hagar has said that he was writing the lyrics to this song at the studio very late one night, and he heard Eddie Van Halen in an adjacent room working on a piano melody. Hagar said he suddenly realized that "we were writing the same song," so he walked into the room and began singing his words over Eddie's music. Hagar says the lyrics for "Right Now" were the best he ever wrote for a Van Halen song.