Yep, your eyes are not deceiving you! Theme Song Tuesday is back after a long hiatus! There was a time when I relied on the new releases from WWE Music on Spotify for the entries on this column. But since they stopped uploading the newer entrance themes, I found it harder to find full copies of them, which made it more difficult to maintain this column. Luckily, I found myself going through a treasure trove of non-WWE (or even older WWE) entrance themes on Spotify over the holidays, so I've found a new set of songs to write about.
I thought I'd start with an oldie but goodie for the first TST of 2020. I honestly can't believe that this next song has been around for over a decade at this point, especially since I'm old enough to remember Randy Orton's old theme. The thing about Orton—and his theme—is that he's been around this long that it's so easy to get tired of him, particularly when he's not booked very well.
I wasn't particularly thrilled to see Orton feud with AJ Styles (again) over the holidays since they'd already feuded through last year's WrestleMania season, albeit with their roles reversed. And then a couple of things happened. First, Orton suckered AJ Styles in with a fake career-ending injury, which actually got me invested in The Viper for the first time in years. And then, his theme song played on my Spotify as I was driving yesterday and I found myself singing along to it and remembering just how awesome it is.
"Voices" by Rev Theory is among the last of its type of entrance theme in WWE: a full song that isn't just a glorified loop. Plus, it was recorded by a band outside the WWE umbrella as Rev Theory has been active as a post-grunge rock band since 2002. It's a song you can listen to whether in or out of the context of wrestling because IT'S NOT JUST A LOOP. (Clearly, I've taken my issues with CFO$' loops with me into the new decade.)
This theme perfectly summarizes Randy Orton's character since he introduced the mentally unstable side of him in the late 2000s. The hook itself goes, "I hear voices in my head / They council me / they understand / They talk to me" and it's so IED Orton, which is pretty much what he still is right now, since he does, "whatever [he] wants, to whomever [he] wants, whenever [he] wants."
What I love most about "Voices" is how it's written. It flips what you expect from a normal person on its head and paints a picture of everything in that person's world unraveling and him spiraling into madness. Meanwhile, the song's persona—presumably Orton himself—relishes in the chaos because he has the guidance of all these voices steering him into his own sense of normalcy.
The second verse is even better because it's as if the persona exacts some sort of revenge on the institutions of society and turns their own power against them.
All the lawyers are defenseless
All the doctors are diseased
And the preachers all are sinners
And the police just take the grease
All you judges, you are guilty
All the bosses, I will fire
All you bankers will have losses
And politicians all are liars
Well, maybe that last line is particularly true for us here in the Philippines. Thanks, 16 million!
Well, maybe that last line is particularly true for us here in the Philippines. Thanks, 16 million!
There's also a killer guitar solo in place of a bridge, which I'll always have a soft spot for as someone whose teenage years were spent enjoying post-grunge acts like Creed, Alter Bridge, and Audioslave. As much as I'd hate to admit it, that solo also dates the song in the mid-2000s because it's exactly how a hard rock track from that era would sound like.
But, hey, there's a reason why Randy Orton has stuck with this theme longer than "Burn In My Light" by Mercy Drive. It's a badass song and perfectly captures the essence of his character, regardless of his alignment. More than a decade after I first heard it, I still sing along to it whenever I'm driving or train a little bit harder at the gym whenever it's on. Whether or not you're a diehard Randy Orton fan, there's no denying how iconic this theme has become.
Are there any older wrestling themes (that we still hear today) that you're particularly fond of? Send them my way and you might see it featured on TST soon!
Header image from WWE
Header image from WWE
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Stan Sy (@_StanSy) is the Editor at Large of Smark Henry and is also a radio DJ on Wave 89.1, an events host, a freelance writer, and one of the hosts of The Smark Gilas-Pilipinas Podcast. He also used to be one of the hosts and writers of The Wrestling Gods on FOX. He enjoys watching WWE, NXT, Lucha Underground, and the occasional New Japan match. You can ask him questions about wrestling, Survivor (yes, the reality show), or whatever you like on his CuriousCat account.
