I love it when pro wrestling breaks into pop culture. (I mean cool, high quality pro wrestling, not a stupid joke.) Here is a cool music video I saw on YouTube featuring two wrestlers at work in the ring while the song plays in the background. Any band that features pro wrestling in their video is my favorite band! The song begins with a steady tribal drum rhythm, like a heartbeat, as we see one wrestler kick the other in the head.
The action is filmed in stylish black and white, presenting a landscape of soothing darkness broken up by brightly-lit, pale flesh. Extreme slow motion is used to emphasize every expression, every flex of muscle and tensing of sinew, every lace on the boots and corner pads. The scene is haunting. Yet the music is jaunty and rhythmic like a sea chanty, and sung with a voice that chimes like a bell and sends chills down your spine. So the bouncy soundtrack is a stark contrast to the colorless scene, glacial pace, and violent imagery in the ring.
The Hero wrestler stuns his opponent with a jaw-breaker elbow. Then his boots are seen striding slowly across the ring and climbing onto the turn-buckles. The slow motion effect adds drama and ponderous weight to the action — to the punishment being doled out. And if you like long sexy hair and tall boots on a wrestler, you’ll enjoy this video. Watch the video to see what I mean.
So why would this band use Indy pro wrestling as the backdrop for their song? (Besides the fact that Indy rock and Indy wrestling are both fucken cool.) Let’s take a closer look at the lyrics:
The beginning describes a happy, proud man who fancies himself a hero, chasing away criminals and winning fights — like a pro wrestling Baby-Face. We all enter this world proud and healthy, thinking we’re brave, invincible, and we’ll always do the right thing. One wrestler even has the word “Hero” printed proudly on the back of his trunks. But the end of the first verse reveals the sad truth that we all soon learn: there really are no Superheroes, neither you, nor me, nor the studs in the wrestling ring.
As the song progresses, the man’s life falls apart. He grapples with addiction and poverty, just as our lives aren’t pure rainbows and roses. The man in the song begins to fear images of death (“The Hill” as in a cemetery hill, and “The Hole” as in grave.) Seeing pro wrestlers on the screen juxtaposed with these sobering lyrics reminds us that many pro wrestlers also live double lives — heroic and invincible in the ring, but often addicted, lonely, injured, and poor in the real world.
Meanwhile we see the broken body of the jobber on the mat, waiting to be crushed by another man’s body flying down off the ropes. We sit transfixed, in anticipation, waiting for the inevitable crushing impact of body on body.
During the entire four minute song, we see Hero execute just three moves. The extremely slow pace reminds the viewer to take it slow, to savor the action. Appreciate Hero’s hair floating around gracefully in the breeze; enjoy these cool moves and strong bodies. Meanwhile the singer’s interesting voice, high-pitched and chilling like a siren song, bounces along through the lyrics. (Chris Hero’s greatness is evident — he is sure trying hard to become one of my all time favorite wrestlers.)
The final verse reminds us to enjoy our lives and our experiences while we’re here. Yes, you’re going to face hardships and death, yes you’re going to be pinned down and defeated, but don’t dwell on it to the point that you overlook living your life! Don’t be bored or boring — go have fun, meet people, wrestle somebody, wear some fancy boots. Yes it’s a “silly world” and you’ll surely end up in “the Hole”, but enjoy the good and bad experiences while they last. That’s my humble interpretation of the lyrics and the video anyway.
Here is how the director describes the making of the video:
“The idea to make a… video using wrestling footage was inspired by a collective love for “pro wrestling” that we and the band all share. The video was shot on the Olympus I-Speed 3, a camera usually reserved for capturing the damage caused in controlled car crashes. This enabled us to capture the wrestling at 2,000 frames per second. This speed revealed the discipline, athleticism and precision that goes into mastering the art of pro wrestling. The tension created by the action in the ring being slowed to such an extent perfectly matches the tension built… by the repetitive drums and bass line of the song.”