Earthquake

Album: The Hogyssey (2001)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • A real earthquake inspired this song. Spacehog frontman Royston Langdon was in New Zealand when one hit, providing Earth-shaking inspiration. In a Songfacts interview with Langdon, he explained: "It's a metaphoric representation of that, and it was a pretty big earthquake. I was in Wellington and it just changed my perspective of what I thought was solid."

    The quake gave Langdon a new perspective. "It's kind of cool in a really weird way because it gives one a deeper appreciation of the atom and also just how powerless we are over nature. It just hit me, so I made this song, and it came up real quick - a little ditty."
  • At the end of the song, the band yells, "Beans on toast!" That's a reference to a food item popular in their native England, but not so prevalent in America, where they moved in 1994.
  • The Hogyssey is the third Spacehog album, and their last until 2013, when they re-formed to released As It Is on Earth. The Hogyssey, released in 2001, sold poorly and led to the band's demise, but Langdon was starting another chapter in his life: he got engaged to Liv Tyler that year, and married her two years later. The couple split up in 2008.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Album Cover Inspirations

Album Cover InspirationsSong Writing

Some album art was at least "inspired" by others. A look at some very similar covers.

Chris Robinson of The Black Crowes

Chris Robinson of The Black CrowesSongwriter Interviews

"Great songwriters don't necessarily have hit songs," says Chris. He's written a bunch, but his fans are more interested in the intricate jams.

Gavin Rossdale On Lyric Inspirations and Bush's Album The Kingdom

Gavin Rossdale On Lyric Inspirations and Bush's Album The KingdomSongwriter Interviews

The Bush frontman on where he finds inspiration for lyrics, if his "machine head" is a guitar tuner, and the stories behind songs from the album The Kingdom.

Art Alexakis of Everclear

Art Alexakis of EverclearSongwriter Interviews

The lead singer of Everclear, Art is also their primary songwriter.

We Will Rock You (To Sleep): Pop Stars Who Recorded Kids' Albums

We Will Rock You (To Sleep): Pop Stars Who Recorded Kids' AlbumsSong Writing

With the rise of Kindie rock, more musicians are embracing their inner child with tunes for tots - here, we look at pop stars who recorded kids' albums.

Joe Ely

Joe ElySongwriter Interviews

The renown Texas songwriter has been at it for 40 years, with tales to tell about The Flatlanders and The Clash - that's Joe's Tex-Mex on "Should I Stay or Should I Go?"