Although the song was inspired by a real person, as mentioned by two of the other commenters, I find some of the lyrics to be exceedingly surreal and ill-fitting to be a reference to a physical death.
In the first verse, Wendell (from the old German Vandal, a tribe name which came to mean perpetration of destruction) tugs a string which held the line of trees, implying that the trees are either no longer in line or that the string which held them has snapped. This may be a metaphor for a loss of respect (being ordered in a line, or tethered by a string) for symbols of elder strength (trees). This interpretation is also supported by the next few lines in this verse.
The second verse starts with a dream of a tree (a symbol of elder strength or authority) losing its "middle" (the source or core of that strength or authority). He builds a wholly artificial core to replace the source of authority, and that core became corrupt (it "turned to lizard skin", which is the skin of a reptile, a common metaphor for a person of shifty, untrustworthy, or cold-blooded morality). Ie., a used car salesman. Climbing inside and losing Wendell Gee has the obvious interpretation of his personality being replaced or entombed in his new philosophy.
The repeating background lyric of "Gonna miss you, boy" also conveys the loss of a child, not an adult, which fits with the metaphor of a child becoming an adult with thickened skin and a loss of innocent morality.
In the last verse, two tempting but empty phrases are used to prompt the listener to follow the path of Wendell and "whistle as the wind blows", which is also a common metaphor for loose morals.
Although the song was inspired by a real person, as mentioned by two of the other commenters, I find some of the lyrics to be exceedingly surreal and ill-fitting to be a reference to a physical death. In the first verse, Wendell (from the old German Vandal, a tribe name which came to mean perpetration of destruction) tugs a string which held the line of trees, implying that the trees are either no longer in line or that the string which held them has snapped. This may be a metaphor for a loss of respect (being ordered in a line, or tethered by a string) for symbols of elder strength (trees). This interpretation is also supported by the next few lines in this verse. The second verse starts with a dream of a tree (a symbol of elder strength or authority) losing its "middle" (the source or core of that strength or authority). He builds a wholly artificial core to replace the source of authority, and that core became corrupt (it "turned to lizard skin", which is the skin of a reptile, a common metaphor for a person of shifty, untrustworthy, or cold-blooded morality). Ie., a used car salesman. Climbing inside and losing Wendell Gee has the obvious interpretation of his personality being replaced or entombed in his new philosophy. The repeating background lyric of "Gonna miss you, boy" also conveys the loss of a child, not an adult, which fits with the metaphor of a child becoming an adult with thickened skin and a loss of innocent morality.
In the last verse, two tempting but empty phrases are used to prompt the listener to follow the path of Wendell and "whistle as the wind blows", which is also a common metaphor for loose morals.