The Greatest Professional Wrestling Concept Album EVER: Track By Track

13. Southwestern Territory

Killer Lyrics: In the squall of the ringside choir / High as a wire / Nearly drive Danny's nose back into his brain / All the cheap seats go insane.

A piano led track that gives John Darnielle’s soft soothing vocals room to breathe, creating a confessional diary entry tone. The instrumental is slow and solemn with blips of muted joy.

The lyrics tell the story of an ageing wrestler using travel time between shows to reckon up his life’s losses. He continues to wrestle, despite having a son he never sees. The narrator concedes to himself that his in-ring career is as futile as a dog chasing a car. Yet he can’t give up, resigning himself to the fact he will “die on the road someday”.

The track does a good job at capturing the duality between going from appearing in parades and competing to an arena in front of fevered fans, to driving alone and tired in the middle of the night. This is often cited by professional wrestlers as a duality they struggle with. It captures the irony that although he competes in a violent sport, it is the loneliness and the risk of late-night driving while tired that are inflicting a significant portion of the narrator’s pain.