About "Willard!"

"Willard!" is the 15th song in Will Wood's album "In case I make it,". It released on July 29th 2022.

The song references the book "Ratman’s Notebooks" (1968) which was adapted in 1971 in the movie "Willard" that had a remake in 2003.

Ratman’s Notebooks

Ratman's Notebooks is a short horror novel written by Stephen Gilbert. It was originally published in 1968 in the United Kingdom by Michael Joseph Ltd.. After the release of the 1971 movie "Willard" the book was renamed to "Willard", but the book itself wasn't changed in any other way. The story is told trough a series of journal entries written in the first person. The protagonist never reveals his name, but due to the new title we can assume his name is Willard (and I'll be calling him Willard). Willard lives with his mother. His father passed away before the story takes place. The book starts with Mother saying to Willard that there are rats in the rockery and that he has to take care of them (aka kill them).

Link with the song

In the first part of the song we get to know Willard. He descirbes himself as gentle and empathetic to animals. He cries for dying moths, wouldn't hurt a fly and cares more for the plights of mice than he does for those of men. We also get to know his daily life. He's bullied a lot and doesn't fit in. He feels trapped in his life and can't relate to other people. The only beings he can relate to are animals. He grows a bond with a rat called Socrates, and says that even the rat is more free than he is.

This disconnect with other humans is further deepend at the start of the second part of the song. Willard doesn't understand emotions and doesn't see himself as human (due to the disconnect). He grows frustrated and wished he was a rat. He starts craving violence, and feels like only the rats really understand him. As his bond with the rats grow he starts forming up a plan. He talks about chewing through garage doors (which the rats do in the 2003 movie). The song ends with voice clips from the 1971 movie, where Willards boss falls from a window and dies after the attack. But it also references the ending of the 2003 movie, where Willard ends up being locked up in an insane asylum.