Interpretation of “Up the Wolves” which played at the end of 4x12: “Still”
Before analyzing the song "Up the Wolves", let's do some research about the band which plays it and the person who wrote it. According to data extracted from the Internet, this is what we can learn about the circumstances which surround this song and the songwriter:
"The Mountain Goats" are an American indie folk band formed in 1991 in Claremont, California, by singer-songwriter John Darnielle. He has been the only member to be in the band for the entire duration of their activity.
"Up the Wolves" is the seventh song on the album "The Sunset Tree".
The Sunset Tree" is the ninth studio album by the Mountain Goats, released on April 26, 2005. The album's songs revolve around the house John Darnielle grew up in and the people who lived there, including his mother, sister and step-father. "The Sunset Tree" focuses on his childhood, and a recurring theme is domestic violence.
In the album's liner notes, Darnielle wrote:
"Made possible by my stepfather, Mike Noonan (1940–2004): may the peace which eluded you in life be yours now.
Dedicated to any young men and women anywhere who live with people who abuse them, with the following good news:
you are going to make it out of there alive,
you will live to tell your story,
Let me do a remark here, regarding what Darnielle writes. He, of course, wrote these lines long before Gimple chose the song for "Still", the 12th episode of Season 4 of The Walking Dead. However, see how they apply to the situations who both Beth and Daryl, the only characters to star in "Still", experience on their own and separated from the rest of their family when being captive of an evil community in subsequent seasons of the show. Beth held captive in Grady Memorial Hospital by Dawn and her officers in Season 5 and Daryl being a prisoner of The Saviors in Season 7.
Darnielle’s notes state that despite being abused, they will make it, alive. They will live to tell their story to others, to the rest of their family and friends, in order to encourage them and let us know that we can overcome any adverse situation, no matter how tough and hard to endure that time it is. And most important, it prompts us to never lose hope. This is a recurring theme around the figure of Beth Greene, the member of Team Family who keeps holding onto hope and faith to continue going on in the hard world they are living it.
Darnielle has made the following comments about what this song could mean in different live shows his band played at:
- "This is a song about how you're going to be alright. It's called 'Up the Wolves'." - 2005-05-05 - Knitting Factory - New York, NY.
- "I'm always trying to figure out what to say about this God damn song. Part of me wants to say look it's about revenge, but as soon as I say that... no, that's not quite it. Part of me wants to say it's about the satisfaction of not needing revenge... and I say no, that’s some new age stuff. I think it's a song about the moment in your quest for revenge when you learn to embrace the futility of it. The moment when you know that the thing you want is ridiculous and pompous and a terrible thing to want anyway. The direction in which you're headed is not the direction in which you want to go, yet you're going to head that way a while longer anyway cause that's just the kind of person you are." - 2007-10-01 - Bowery Ballroom - New York, NY.
- "This is a song, when people talk about triumph over adversity, adversity sounds like sort of a faceless sort of a thing that you don't need to triumph over so much as get around. This is a song about triumph over the adversary." - 2013-07-26 - Newport Folk Festival - Newport, RI.
Please, have these comments by Darnielle in mind and see how they end up applying to the specific circumstances of both Beth and Daryl and Team Family.
When listening to the song in the episode “Still”, there is one stanza of the original song (the antepenultimate) that has not played and it is the following, therefore it won’t be analyzed.
"We're gonna commandeer the local airwaves
To tell the neighbors what's been going on
And they will shake their heads
And wag their bony fingers
In all the wrong directions
And by daybreak we'll be gone"
These are the actual stanzas we can listen to in the episode:
"There's bound to be a ghost at the back of your closet
No matter where you live
There'll always be a few things, maybe several things
That you're going to find really difficult to forgive
There's gonna come a day when you feel better
You'll rise up free and easy on that day
And float from branch to branch, lighter than the air
Just when that day is coming, who can say, who can say?
Our mother has been absent
Ever since we founded Rome
But there's going to be a party
When the wolf comes home
I'm going to get myself in fighting trim
Scope out every angle of unfair advantage
I'm going to bribe the officials, I'm going to kill all the judges
It's going to take you people years to recover from all of the damage
Our mother has been absent
Ever since we founded Rome
But there's going to be a party
When the wolf comes home"
"There's bound to be a ghost at the back of your closet
No matter where you live
There'll always be a few things, maybe several things
That you're going to find really difficult to forgive”
Given that Team Family is living during the ZA, no matter where they live (be it the Atlanta Camp, the Prison, Alexandria, Hilltop, The Kingdom...) there is always going to be danger, hurt, damage, distress, angst, grieving... Rick said it to Carl several times: "You are not safe". That ghost could refer to walkers, which can get you killed in a matter of seconds, but also to villains (The Governor, Joe's group of Claimers, the Cannibals from Terminus, Dawn and her officers in Grady, The Wolves, Negan and The Saviors...). So, either because of one reason or the other, Team Family will always have to live in alert. You cannot take a rest from this world because the minute you lower your guard or do a mistake, you are dead or get killed. We might remember here how Tyreese got bitten in his arm when he was distracted looking at pictures of Noah's twin brothers. Or how easy it is that the bad captures you when large in numbers and kills you without any possibility to retaliate (Negan and The Saviors killing Abraham and Glenn in front of a defenceless Team Family).
If we look back and remember what Team Family has been through, all the distress, all the abuse, the torture they have endured so far... it is clear that it is difficult to forgive.
How is it possible to forgive people who are trying to kill you or who have killed your loved ones? (The Governor, The Claimers, The Cannibals, The Wolves, Negan and The Saviors...)
When it comes to Beth and Daryl personal situations, the same can be applied. Daryl has gone through a life of abuse since he was a child. It is not the case of Beth, but she was held captive and has been abused, physically and psychologically in Grady for the first time in her life, after her kidnapping and forced separation from Daryl. Now that Daryl is a prisoner of The Saviors, he is being tortured and abused, again both physically and psychologically. They say that physical wounds end up healing. But how is it possible to heal from being psychologically abused? The wounds inflicted to the soul are a different level of damage. And despite receiving treatment, people do not get to recover sometimes. Daryl found a healing soul in Beth previously to her being kidnapped by the Grady officers. He showed signs of healing back then, during the time spent with her. However, that hope that settled in him after "Alone" disappeared as soon as Beth was shot in "Coda". Ever since, Daryl has been feeling down and depressed, thinking that this world has nothing good left. And when his situation couldn’t be worse, he is being kept a prisoner by Negan and The Saviors, being tortured in all senses and trying to get deprived of his identity.
So, regarding both Beth and Daryl, the abuse and torture they both have endured... it is going to be difficult to be forgotten and forgiven. However, feelings as they are love and care can soften the damage and you might get to recover.
“There's gonna come a day when you feel better
You'll rise up free and easy on that day
And float from branch to branch, lighter than the air
Just when that day is coming, who can say, who can say?
This stanza is very clear. After enduring abuse, torture, violence... the day will come when you will feel better. The day you free yourself from your captivity, you will rise up and will be free, finally.
This can be applied to TF and Daryl and Beth situations. Daryl and Beth, in their prisons at The Sanctuary and Grady, while TF is imprisoned by Negan’s rule of terror and oppression.
This time of subjugation won’t last forever, though. All of them will rise up and reveal against those tyrants and they will overcome it. John Darnielle has mentioned it in one of his concerts when asked about the meaning of "Up the Wolves", which perfectly fits the situation of our dear characters in The Walking Dead: they will triumph over the adversary. Be that adversary Grady, The Saviors, Negan... they will find a way to fight back, reveal against their oppressors and recover after the damage inflicted. At present they will have to fight back Negan and The Saviors but they will defeat this new adversary they have encountered.
I am going to skip the meaning of the chorus for now and continue with the third stanza of the song that can be listened to in the episode “Still”.
"I'm going to get myself in fighting trim
Scope out every angle of unfair advantage
I'm going to bribe the officials, I'm going to kill all the judges
It's going to take you people years to recover from all of the damage"
Here, the song says that they are getting ready to fight. They are going to analyze, examine, observe every advantage the enemy might have over them at present. When the time comes, when they are ready to fight, they will rise up against them. No matter what they have to do (even if it implies to do dishonest practices –bribing, killing-). The point is to come out victorious and win over the oppression. This is something applicable to the imprisonment that Beth and Daryl endure, as well as the tyranny of Negan and The Saviors over TF (and consequently to the rest of communities).
Recovering from the loss of loved ones, the injustice, the beating, the psychological damage, the oppression, the tyranny... takes a long time, but it is possible. You still can come back and heal if you are surrounded by love, empathy, understanding, care, patience... It might take time and effort but it is possible to completely heal and live.
"Our mother has been absent
Ever since we founded Rome
But there's going to be a party
When the wolf comes home"
is a reference to the Legend of Romulus and Remus, founders of the city of Rome, in Italy. Let’s remember this legend:
"The mother of Romulus and Remus is Rhea Silvia, daughter of Numitor, king of Alba Longa. Before their conception, Numitor's brother, Amulius had seized power, killed Numitor's male heirs and forced Rhea Silvia to become a Vestal Virgin, sworn to chastity. Rhea Silvia conceives the twins by the god Mars. Once the twins are born, Amulius has them abandoned to die in the Tiber river. They are saved by a series of miraculous interventions: the river carries them to a place of safety, where a she-wolf finds and suckles them, and a woodpecker feeds them. A shepherd and his wife find them there, and foster them to manhood as simple shepherds. The twins, still ignorant of their true origins, prove to be natural leaders. Each acquires many followers. When they discover the truth of their birth, they kill Amulius and restore Numitor to his throne. Rather than wait to inherit Alba Longa, they choose to found a new city, at the place of their rescue and upbringing.
Romulus wants to found the new city on the Palatine Hill but Remus prefers the Aventine Hill. They agree to determine the site through augury but when each claims the results in his own favor, they quarrel and Remus is killed. Romulus founds the new city, naming it Rome."
"Our mother has been absent
Ever since we founded Rome”
If we think about the mother of Romulus and Remus, it is a bit weird to say exactly that. Why? Because their mother, Rhea Silvia, was absent way long before the foundation of Rome. Actually, she was absent since the day they were born, since they were deprived of their biological mother.
Now, the lyrics are in the first person plural as if Romulus and Remus were speaking themselves. It is totally conjectural to assimilate characters from the show to the Romulus and Remus figures. After all, the sentence could just mean that TF is saying that Beth is absent since they established themselves in Alexandria.
The legend says that the twins were natural leaders and that one lives while the other dies while trying to found the city. They could be talking about Deanna Monroe dying and Rick occupying her place as a leader of Alexandria. But if the song is about TF, Beth and Daryl, that death could be metaphorical, not physical as Deanna’s. That is, Rick dies as a leader for the time being (we know he is devastated after Negan killed Glenn and Abraham and fears that more people from his family or Alexandria could die in the hands of the villain) but a new leader arises, whose strength and determination are going to lead the Alexandrians and the rest of communities to rise up against Negan and The Saviors. This commanding, new leader would be Beth, the new sheriff in town.
If you haven’t realized about it already, this season is the season of the The Walking Dead women. While most of the men are broken and devastated and still not planning or considering rising up against Negan, that’s the only thought the women have in mind at the moment. See Maggie right after Glenn is killed in 7x01 saying they have to get ready to fight and how she stands up to Gregory’s bullshit in 7x05. See Michonne not accepting the fact they are subjugated to Negan now. She is ready and in a fighting trim. Rosita, she is only thinking about finding weapons and manufacture bullets. Sasha, she is already sharping knives and ready to fight and kill Negan. Now see the new community presented in 7x06, Oceanside. They are only women because the men were all killed by The Saviors. And they are ready to fight, too. They don’t want to be involved or found by The Saviors at present but we will see Oceanside again, no doubt. And they will fight.
Right now, the four “good” communities (Alexandria, The Hilltop, The Kingdom and Oceanside) are not an unity. Even if they are the good ones and totally opposed to The Saviors, they are doing what they have to do to keep going, to stay alive but separately. Each community has their own leader: Rick, Gregory, Ezekiel and Natania. Probably Maggie will take Gregory’s place in the near future, though. However, none of those are going to lead the four communities against Negan as if they were one. They need a commanding leader who brings all the communities together. That’s reserved to the one who manages to persuade the leaders and organizes and plan on how to take Negan and The Saviors down. It takes some convincing speech, skills and aptitude to convince all those individual leaders and communities to rise and fight, right?
“But there's going to be a party
When the wolf comes home"
This part of the lyrics about the wolf coming home probably is a reference to the she-wolf that nursed the abandoned twins, a surrogate mother. Let’s remember the importance of Beth in being a surrogate mother to Judith since the day she was born.
What could it refer to regarding The Walking Dead story and Daryl and Beth?
First, they are talking about the founding of Rome. The city of Rome is very important in the sense that it is the cradle of the Ancient Roman Civilization and its capital city. This civilization expanded to become one of the largest empires in the ancient world.
Now back to the ZA. Everything we know is gone, even civilization as we know it at present times. There are a few communities which still remain being one of them the Alexandria Safe Zone.
If we are to compare Alexandria and Rome, they have in common that they are founding cities, the cradles of civilization (one in ancient times and the other after an apocalypse).
Not only have they this characteristic in common. The Colony of Virginia was the first permanently settled English colony in North America. American archaeologist William Kelso says Virginia "is where the British Empire began as it was the first colony in the British Empire.
In 1607, members of a joint venture called the Virginia Company founded Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in North America on the banks of the James River. Famine, disease and conflict with local Native American tribes (the Powhatan Confederacy) in the first two years brought Jamestown to the brink of failure before the arrival of a new group of settlers and supplies in 1610.
How does that sound? ASZ, under the leadership of Deanna Monroe, was bound to fail sooner or later. It could have had disappeared by an invasion of walkers or all the community could have been killed by The Wolves. But a new group of settlers (TF) saved it from disappearing.
After declaring independence from Great Britain in 1775 before the Declaration of Independence was officially adopted, the Virginia Colony became the Commonwealth of Virginia, one of the original thirteen states of the United States, adopting as its official slogan "The Old Dominion".
The new town of Alexandria was named like that in honor of a family. Philip and his cousin Captain John Alexander (1711–1763) gave land to assist in the development of Alexandria, and are listed as the founders.
It is not strange that along history, people give their own names or surnames to cities, countries, pieces of land... Another interesting fact here, then.
The Civilization of Ancient Rome developed along the Mediterranean Sea while the city of Alexandria was born among several creeks and along the Potomac River, which flows into the Chesapeake Bay.
So, we have two founding places, cradles of a new civilization/world order, both named after people and both located in strategic areas close to the sea where you can establish communication and/or transportation highways...
The chorus could refer to Team Family arriving to Alexandria. (Same as a new group of settlers saved the initial Jamestown, TF saved the city from walkers -so we could approve of them being the new rulers).
However, there is someone missing since they arrived to Alexandria. If we assimilate these new rulers of Alexandria to Romulus and Remus, the she-wolf which nurtured their souls, encouraged them to have faith and hope and became a surrogate mother to the baby of the group would be Beth.
They are at their lowest at the moment, having lost all their hopes and strength after The Saviors leaded by Negan killed two beloved members of their family. They are subjugated and under oppression and have to learn how to live in this new world order. However, if the main bearer of hope and faith, the one who keeps believing everything will be fine in the end and it is still possible to live and that not absolutely everyone has bad intentions (we only have to look at The Hilltop and The Kingdom, two friendly communities to Alexandria), shows up after a long absence, TF will realize that not everything is lost and that they have to fight back. Remember: "If we don’t fight, we die". Just the mere fact that someone who came back from the dead, someone who survived abuse and being shot in the head is alive and back to them is a boost of happiness, joy, energy, faith, hope... Their spirits will rise up, they will regain their fierceness, strength, sense of justice and will counterattack and retaliate the wickedness that Negan has brought to their world because there is always light at the end of the tunnel.
Getting Beth back after so much loss and sorrow will surely be a breath of fresh air for both TF and the audience.
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