The Real Meaning Behind ‘Go Tell Aunt Rhody’ [Resident Evil 7 / RE7]

Eveline’s Theme

Resident Evil 7 found itself on store shelves a week ago, and players all over the world have sunk their teeth in grade-A B-movie horror. Gamers have walked the harrowing halls of the Baker plantation. We have uncovered the secrets of Dulvey’s haunted mansion, and most of us did not leave frustrated or wanting. Also, we left that game singing the Resident Evil 7 theme song to ourselves!

One of the things we now know is that Grandma Baker is actually the main antagonist of the whole game. Yes, the creepy old lady turns out to be Eveline. Eveline is a bioweapon capable of mind control and creating fungoid abominations called the molded.

We know that Eveline is responsible for Mia and the Bakers’ infection and mutations. However, we didn’t know that Capcom was already revealing that huge chunk of the plot in the very first trailer of the game. It stared at us right from the beginning!

The first Resident Evil 7 tape is named “Desolation.” It  features screens from the Guest House level. However, what is of note in this video is a very very cryptic rendition of “Go Tell Aunt Rhody.” The song is a 250 year-old nursery rhyme made popular in the 1900s.

This is where we’ll find our juicy plot point. When we analyze the whole song, we’ll find that it reveals a lot about Eveline’s nature and motives–and some plot points found in-game.

Analysis

We’ll begin this analysis with some background information. Go Tell Aunt Rhody‘s tune came from Jean-Jacques Roussaeu’s opera “Le devin Du Village.” However, it was a century later when Americans began singing it regularly.

Everybody’s Dead, Dave 

We know about Eveline due to the flashbacks in the Wrecked Ship segment. The game tells us about the Bakers as well, that they were very kind rural folk (apart form Lucas). It’s possible that when they found Eveline, Marguerite taught the tune to the little girl to bond with her. Eveline, with an inclination to infect, kill, and destroy, altered the lyrics to suit her nature:

“Go tell aunt Rhody… 
That everybody’s dead.”

Backstory

We now understand why Eveline enjoys singing the song, and why she changed the lyrics. Now, let’s go deeper into the verses, where really, really meaty backstory data is found.