Bryan Danielson: Indie Folk Artist

Danielson was an artist in more ways than one, as exampled with his collaboration with Dawson
Photo via @mrskimyadawson

Yes, Bryan Danielson is arguably the best wrestler of this century. He was beyond magnificent. He's one of the main reasons I got back into pro wrestling, a sentiment I'm sure I share with many other fans. But I'm not exactly here to talk about his wrestling. I want to talk about one of his outside ventures that forever endeared him to me: his strange collaboration with indie folk superstar Kimya Dawson.

Dawson is best known as the creative force behind all the lovely songs that provided the backdrop for the film Juno. Her songs skew toward the quiet, sensitive moods, but she does hint at a tough core within. That tough core came out in 2011 when she recorded an ode to recently deceased Captain Lou Albano.

The song features awesome rapper Aesop Rock doing guest vocals with Danielson on the song's chorus. Danielson is not asked to sing a terribly complex vocal line, and he does so in the same octave as his speaking voice. He's basically doing a talking melody. We shouldn't be surprised that Bryan Danielson never devoted much time to vocal lessons.

The song is all about how much she loved Albano when she was a kid, and how his death proves that none of us know when it'll be our time to die. Now, putting aside the fact that Captain Lou was 76 when he died, which makes it not exactly a tragedy, there is still an interesting poignancy to this message.

The only line Danielson sings in the entire song is: "You'll never ever know when it'll be your time to go."

In 2011, Danielson, as Daniel Bryan, hadn't even won his first World Title yet. He hadn't yet won Money in the Bank, or done any of the amazing things he'd come to do. As far as he knew, he would wrestle for as long as he wanted to, and he would leave when he wanted to.

And now in February of 2016, it is indeed his time to go. He cannot wrestle anymore, and that in itself is a tragedy. But unlike Captain Lou, we still have the incredible human being we call Bryan, and for that we should be satisfied.