“Oldest Daughter” by The Wonder Years
Almost a decade after The Wonder Years 2013’s song, “Madelyn” was released, TWY continues on her story with “Oldest Daughter”.
“Madelyn” is about the sister of band’s lead vocals, Dan Campbell (also known as “Soupy”) who left home and has not returned for years. She is portrayed to be homeless, and an addict to drugs and alcohol in the song. The song also acts as Soupy’s plea for her to come back home. In “Oldest Daughter”, TWY takes us back to the mind of Soupy as he comes to terms that he may never be reunited with his sister again.
The Lyrics of “Oldest Daughter”
It’s fall season and it’s getting cold. Being a homeless person, Madelyn moves from one place to another for shelter and warmth. Unfortunately, her stay at each location isn’t long as she faces being chased out constantly. She has even become a regular face to the cops as they know her by name. We can infer from this that she probably stays in an area long enough to be known before moving to another.
In the course of Madelyn’s disappearance, Soupy has been trying to find her, approaching people to ask if they’ve seen her. However, nobody can provide him with her address or where she may be sleeping for the night. His initial hope for them reuniting extended to him buying birthday gifts for her every year and wanting to send them “with pictures of (his) kids.”
The search for a missing loved one could take months or years. This makes it exhausting and heart-breaking when there seems to be no progress, which is evident in the lines of the pre-chorus, “another day up in flames/another year that looks the same.” It becomes evident that Soupy’s hope is slowly diminishing as the years go by without a tinge of progress.
Madelyn might die at the end of the day
With Madelyn’s addiction to drugs and alcohol coupled with her homelessness, her brother notes here that he “know(s) how this ends.” Soupy has come to terms that there’s a high chance Madelyn would be dead before they are both ever reunited.
One possible way of death addressed is by drowning, as the chorus depicts. She is portrayed to making an attempt to swim with “two broken legs”. This could depict that she loves to swim but her legs are not strong enough to aid her. Another possible way for her death is suggested in the bridge, where she dies on the street. Possible causes we can deduce would be either from a drug or alcohol overdose, or freezing under the cold air from the fall season considering that she might not have enough warm clothes.
Release Date of “Oldest Daughter”
The song was released as a single on 21st April, 2022. It’s the band’s first single after their 2018 album, “Sister Cities”. Their seventh album (no known name as of now) is set to be released later this year.
Credits
“Oldest Daughter” was written by members of the band alongside other writers. The full list of writers is as follows:
- Mike Kennedy
- Nick Steinborn
- Matthew Brasch
- Kenneth Cavaliere
- Joshua Martin
- Daniel Campbell
- Ace Enders
TWY talks about “Oldest Daughter”
According to Soupy, the song is his understanding that “you can’t save everyone” and loved ones will still continue to harm themselves regardless of how much you try to help them stop destroying themselves.
