The fourth and last single off of Blue Rev, “After The Earthquake” is a classic, high-energy track that one can expect from the band.

The song is inspired by Japanese author Haruki Murikami’s short story collection collection After the Quake, which describes the strange ways that the 1995 Kobe earthquake affected people’s lives. Rankin applies this concept of post-catastrophe clarity to a couple that got into a major disagreement before one of them falls into a coma from a car crash. The narrator grapples with her partner’s dire condition while their unresolved conflict still hangs in the air.

In a metaphorical sense, it could describe a more mild situation in which Rankin must put their conflict on hold because something more important turns up.

Either way, there’s a pervasive need for closure throughout the song.