Randy Orton was not a fan of the theme music he has used for the past thirteen years according to the song’s composer Jim Johnston.
Orton began using ‘Voices’ in May 2008 after several years of using ‘Burn In My Light’ to make his entrance. Orton was becoming a darker character at the time, mere months before becoming head of the Legacy faction.
Jim Johnston, who composed the majority of WWE theme songs between 1985 and his release from the company in 2017. During that time Johnston produced some iconic themes for WWE Superstars such as The Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, and Stone Cold Steve Austin.
In an interview with Lucha Libre Online, Johnston revealed that he once heard that Orton was not a fan of his ‘Voices’ track. Although Johnston reveals he never heard that from ‘The Viper’ himself.
Johnston explains:
“I never spoke to him directly. But Randy Orton apparently hated his theme. I don’t know if he still does, I don’t even know why but apparently that was true. I never spoke with him about it.”
Johnston previously discussed creating the song during the WWE produced documentary Behind The Themes. In that, Johnston discusses his ideas in coming up with the song for Orton:
“Part of what makes writing a song for a guy like Randy is – his strength is his quietness. That’s who he is. You don’t know what he’s thinking. But because of that, it doesn’t give you a lot of information, I began thinking there must be a lot going on inside [his head].”
“At first I was a little uncomfortable with the spooky notion of ‘Voices’ but I wrote it on an acoustic guitar. And I wrote it, not as a rock song, I wasn’t even thinking of a rock song, it was just sort of a dark, trancey song.”
Jim Johnston also revealed that Yokozuna came to him looking for a change from his sumo-inspired music in WWE.