Waller makes another foray into music
Darren Waller is still the starting tight end for the New York Giants, but he’s also a recording artist.
Waller released the video for his new single, “Who Knew (Her perspective)” on his YouTube channel on Thursday afternoon.
As the member of the BBV staff who studied music, it falls to me to report on Waller’s foray into music.
And unlike pretty much everyone else, I’m not going to shred him for his effort. I’m not saying that I’d make anything like it, or even that it’s music that I’d listen to in the normal course of my day.
It takes a lot of courage to be vulnerable enough to get up on stage and perform, to record yourself, or bare your soul in a piece of music. I’ve been there, and it’s pretty much the most frightening thing I’ve ever done.
And as someone who’s musical tastes range from Arch Enemy to Led Zeppelin to Vivaldi, I can never trash someone for what speaks to them. Music, art, is how we speak to each other — communicate our thoughts, feelings, and beliefs that don’t adequately fit into words.
And Waller is clearly trying to say something, or work through his own feelings, in his song.
Around here, on Big Blue View and in the Giants fandom in general, we’re mostly worried about whether he’s going to retire from the NFL or not. And (not to try to analyze him), this is likely part of that.
There’s obviously the surface level subject matter of the song: A young man going through a breakup. The inspiration for that one is pretty cleary — Waller recently divorced from WNBA Las Vegas Aces guard Kelsey Plum (third grade jokes about my name aside, no relation).
That’s bound to make a guy question some things about his life.
Waller has also dealt with his share of difficulties through his career, ranging from addiction to injury. He’s probably trying to see if there’s more to “Darren Waller” beyond being a football player. Football is an undeniably temporary thing and most professional football players only get to live out their NFL dreams for a couple years. Even the most long-lived careers are over before a player is middle-aged.
I have to wonder if Waller’s most recent foray into music is a subconscious admission that he has one foot (or more) out the door. His song is obviously the product of someone grappling with a dramatic change in their lives — of someone realizing that a significant phase of their life is ending.
I don’t know what this means for Waller’s NFL career. If I was going to offer some advice, I would say that if you’re going to pursue a music career, find a vocal coach and someone with whom you can collaborate. Music is a lot like football — There are reasons why you should do things (music theory), and it’s really a team effort unless you’re playing by yourself at home. I also don’t know whether this is the beginning of the end of Waller’s career as a football player, but I do wish him nothing but the best.
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