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After the Earthquake Lyrics
After the earthquake
Pictures hanging diagonally
Drive-through crying and a milkshake
It wasn't built to last
Up in the front seat
You were playing with the station
And I was fidgeting with the heat
Looking back to the vibrant days of
Racket in the hall
Caution to the breeze
Say you'll climb your way out of your wake now
Velvet curtain drawn
Flowers at your feet
Say you'll contemplate how
You're weighed down
The pulse of the brake light
Is the colour of burning embers
If you wake up, you will remember
The awful things I said at the edge of your bed
Thrashing like a great white (I feel the northern tide)
As they rolled you up on a stretcher (crashing on the pines)
And the faint words of Jessica Fletcher (I feel the northern tide)
Were drowned out by the sound of (crashing on the pines)
Racket in the hall
Caution to the breeze
Say you'll climb your way out of your wake now
Those days, I'd never let you fall apart
But things fade, like the scent of a brand-new car
Why would I ever fall in love again
When every detail's over the guard rail?
Say you'll climb your way out of your wake now
Say you'll contemplate how
You're weighed down
Are you awake now?
Are you awake now?
Racket in the hall
Caution to the breeze
Velvet curtain drawn
Flowers at your feet
Pictures hanging diagonally
Drive-through crying and a milkshake
It wasn't built to last
You were playing with the station
And I was fidgeting with the heat
Looking back to the vibrant days of
Caution to the breeze
Say you'll climb your way out of your wake now
Flowers at your feet
Say you'll contemplate how
You're weighed down
Is the colour of burning embers
If you wake up, you will remember
The awful things I said at the edge of your bed
As they rolled you up on a stretcher (crashing on the pines)
And the faint words of Jessica Fletcher (I feel the northern tide)
Were drowned out by the sound of (crashing on the pines)
Caution to the breeze
Say you'll climb your way out of your wake now
But things fade, like the scent of a brand-new car
Why would I ever fall in love again
When every detail's over the guard rail?
Say you'll climb your way out of your wake now
You're weighed down
Are you awake now?
Caution to the breeze
Velvet curtain drawn
Flowers at your feet
Song Info
Copyright
Lyrics © Rough Trade Publishing
Writer
Alec Fraser O'hanley, Molly Margaret Rankin
Duration
3:05
Submitted by
nigelisten On Oct 19, 2025
"After the Earthquake" was composed by Alec Fraser O'Hanley, and Molly Margaret Rankin.
"After the Earthquake" was composed by Alec Fraser O'Hanley, and Molly Margaret Rankin.
'After the Earthquake' by Alvvays was released on October 7th, 2022.
'After the Earthquake' by Alvvays was released on October 7th, 2022.
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
After the Earthquake, like songs like Next Of Kin and Already Gone, follow relationships through traumatic experiences.
After the Earthquake is about change and regret. The song presents the motions of a car accident with moments of current feelings of the singer layered in, stemming from an argument or disagreement that was ongoing before the accident happened.
The title comes from the Murakami short story collection (with Earth omitted) about vaguely the same ideas. I love that book and recommend you read it. Just like the song the book is about longing and travel, there are a lot of unspoken intimacies and undefined relationships in that collection of stories, a lot like what Alvvays songs are about.
This song’s final bridge is so, so good, notice the quality of the vocals as everything else disappears. True poetry.