hard rock – The Diary of The Deranged Writer

Song of the Moment CVI: Saliva’s “I Walk Alone”

On New Year’s Day (2024), the first song I heard on Spotify was my favorite song of all time, “The Pretender “ by my favorite band, Foo Fighters. On New Year’s Day (2025), it was “Cult of Personality” by Living Colour, CM Punk’s WWE theme song, and one of my first Songs of the Moment.

But this year, 2026, I wanted to do something different. Because of the ridiculous barrage of fireworks outside, I started the year 2026 by opening the house’s smart TV and then searching on Spotify for Saliva’s “I Walk Alone”, the theme song of WWE wrestler-turned-actor Batista (real name David Bautista). Upon finding the song, I played it at full volume, jumped with my coins for good luck, and screamed along to the song’s first line:

YEEEEEEEEEEAH!!!

Side note: For context, please watch the video below. It’s Batista’s entrance at WrestleMania XXXIV featuring his theme song.

What a way for me to kick off the new year and cleanse the bad spirits. It was like I recreated Batista’s epic entrance at home. And that’s why it’s my first Song of the Moment for 2026.

Saliva’s “I Walk Alone”, from the WWE soundtrack compilation Wreckless Intent.

To all, have a fruitful, happy, and safe year ahead!

Header image: DreamSky of Pexels. Edited in Adobe Photoshop 2025.

Batista’s video: WWE. The featured video is for entertainment purposes only. No copyright infringement intended.

Listen VI: Foo Fighters’ “Asking for a Friend”

In my previous Listen post, I wrote a love letter to my third-favorite Foo Fighters song, “Walk” (the third single and last song from the band’s seventh studio album Wasting Light). I shared how the song gave me light in a truly dark period in 2011. I also shared that during my sing-along to “Walk” at my second (and best) Foos show last October 4, 2025, it started with a few seconds of tears and ended up singing along angrily. That was a cathartic moment for me.

Then, on the night of October 23, 2025, after having a lovely birthday dinner with my family (it was my Mother’s birthday), the Foo Fighters released their newest song, “Asking for a Friend”. Little did I know that, once again, I would feel multiple emotions all at once because of a song from my all-time favorite band.

The newest Foo Fighters song, “Asking for a Friend”.

Song of the Moment XCVI: Foo Fighters’ “The Pretender”

Last.fm tracks every song, artist, and album I listen to on my music apps since I joined the website in January 2010. And, to the non-surprise of everyone who knows me personally, my most listened-to song is my favorite of all time: Foo Fighters’ “The Pretender”.

The music video of Foo Fighters’ “The Pretender”.

How many times have I listened to the song from the day I joined Last.fm to yesterday, September 9? 23,999 times. I’m not kidding.