Songfacts®:

• This piano-centric song from Enation's Blame-shifter EP is part of the theme of religious references present in the alt-rock band's lyrics.
  
  When we spoke with lead singer Jonathan Jackson, he talked about his revelation regarding this tune's meaning. "'Wasteland' just kind of happened," he said. "Lyrically, I didn't know the intent of the song as the lyrics came out. It was all written and I didn't really understand quite what it was at first. I realized afterwards that it was in essence the prodigal son. Prodigal means to be wasteful, and so that's where that came from. It starts out, 'I ran away from my father's house and I saw some things I was not prepared.'
  
  The imagery at the end is kind of a reunion, but it's left for the listener to experience it. It doesn't fill in all the blanks. It just alludes to that moment of coming home."
  
  He continued, "I thought about that song afterward and to me it had some influences from Peter Gabriel. It reminded me of a little bit of his tone in his music for some reason. It's almost like cinematic lullabies."
• Jackson told Songwriting Magazine that he was shocked at how much people are fond of this tune. He said: "'Wasteland' was a song that I really liked but I didn't know if anyone else would respond to it but Greg Archilla [Enation's producer] really loved it and Richard and Daniel loved it as well. It's just an odd little song, it has some Peter Gabriel and Radiohead in there somewhere. The reaction to that song was a little bit of a surprise."