Chelsea Joy Wolfe (born November 14, 1983 in Roseville, California, U.S.) i… Read Full Bio ↴Chelsea Joy Wolfe (born November 14, 1983 in Roseville, California, U.S.) is an American singer/songwriter and eponymous full band started in 2009 out of Los Angeles, California. Her style has been described as "doom folk" and her music has been described as "a specific brand of drone-metal-art-folk."

Chelsea Joy Wolfe was born in Roseville, California, and grew up in Sacramento. She is of Norwegian and German descent. Her father was in a country band and owned a home studio. By the age of 7, she had written her first poem and by the age of 9, she had written and recorded songs which she later described as "basically Casio-based gothy R&B songs."

Inspired by the dark state of the world and the strange connection between all things, she creates a unique musical blend of goth-folk, experimental rock and spiritual realm funeral songs. With influences ranging from the great minds of Ingmar Bergman and David Lynch to Soviet and end-times literature, her songs conjure visions of other dimensions, claustrophobic echo-rooms and parking garage cathedrals.

Wolfe has recorded eight full length studio albums: The Grime and the Glow, which was released on December 28th, 2010 on limited vinyl through Brooklyn’s Pendu Sound Recordings; Ἀποκάλυψις (pronounced “Apokalypsis”), which was released as a 12” LP on August 23rd, 2011; Unknown Rooms: a Collection of Acoustic Songs, which was released on October, 2012 through Sargent House; Pain Is Beauty, out September 3rd, 2013; Abyss, which was released August 7th, 2015; and Hiss Spun, out September 22nd, 2017; Birth of Violence which was released on September 13th, 2019; She Reaches Out To She Reaches Out To She which was released on February 9th, 2024.

Ancestors the Ancients
Chelsea Wolfe Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Release your dead
Release your dead
Holy ancestors
Holy ancestors
I saw in you a pattern
I saw the reason why
They never saw it in you
But I swear I saw it then

In my head there's a war
In the end it's a horror
Can't help the chemical's form
In my head there's a warrior
I saw in you a pattern
I saw the reason why
He never saw it in you
But I swear I saw it then
Release your dead
Release your dead
Holy ancestors
Holy ancestors
In my head there's a war
In the end it's a horror
The urge to kill getting stronger
In my head there's a warrior
And it's a war to feel whole
And it's a fear to feel at all
And it's the wonder at love
And it's the weight of her
Release your dead
(for me they've bled)
Release your dead
(those wild men)
Believe your dead
(to give me dreams)

Believe your dead
(to bring me dreams)

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Chelsea Wolfe's song "Ancestors the Ancients" talk about the internal war that the singer is fighting in her head. She calls upon holy ancestors to release their dead, possibly asking them to let go of their past grievances and move on. She believes she has seen a pattern and a reason in the ancestors, which others have failed to notice. The singer's mind is consumed by the chemical form that her thoughts take, and she sees a warrior within her who is fighting the urge to kill.

Chelsea speaks about how it is a war to feel whole and a fear to feel anything at all. While she wonders about love and its wonder, it carries the weight of her. The singer asks the ancestors to release their dead for her, which they have bled; she believes them to be wild men. And she asks them to believe their dead to bring her dreams.

The song feels like a call to the ancestors to release their dead and move on. While it is a struggle to feel better, Chelsea asks the ancestors to lend their strength to her as she fights her inner demons.

Line by Line Meaning

Release your dead
Let go of the past events that are weighing you down

Holy ancestors
Respect and honor those who came before you

I saw in you a pattern
I recognized a familiar behavior in you

I saw the reason why
I understood why you acted a certain way

They never saw it in you
The people around you didn't recognize this behavior in you

But I swear I saw it then
But I knew what I saw

In my head there's a war
I'm battling with my own thoughts and emotions

In the end it's a horror
It can lead to a negative outcome

Can't help the chemical's form
I can't control the way my body reacts to certain situations

In my head there's a warrior
I'm fighting to overcome this internal struggle

The urge to kill getting stronger
My negative thoughts and emotions are becoming more intense