Aftershocks Lyrics
Aftershocks
[GABE]They've managed to get rid of me, returned me to the grave
ECT, electric chair, we shock who we can't save
They've cleared you of my memory and many more as well
You may have wanted some of them but who can ever tell
Your brainwaves are more regular, the chemistry more pure
The headaches and the nausea will pass and you'll endure
You son is gone forever though, of that the doctor's sure
The memories will wane, the aftershocks remain
You wonder which is worse, the symptom or the cure
DAN (spoken)
Diana, honey, you've been at this for days.
DIANA (spoken)
There's something missing Dan. It's like its tugging at me. I can almost see it.
DAN (spoken)
Come to bed. If the memories and meant to come back, they will.
HENRY (spoken)
Oh, sorry Ms. Goodman. I just need to talk to Natalie about some homework.
I know it's late and she's not answering her is everything alright?
DIANA (spoken)
Henry
HENRY (spoken)
Yes?
DIANA (spoken)
You remind me of someone. How old are you?
HENRY (spoken)
Seventeen. Why?
DIANA (spoken)
I don't know. Natalie's in her room.
GABE
They've managed to get rid of me. I'm gone without a trace
But sear the soul and leave scar no treatment can erase
They've cut away the cancer but forgot to fill the hole
They moved me from your memory, I'm still there in your soul
Your life goes back to normal now, or so they all believe
Your heart is in your chest again, not hanging from your sleeve
They've driven out the demons and they've earned you this reprieve
The memories are gone. The aftershocks live on
But with nothing to remember, is there nothing left to grieve?
DIANA
With nothing to remember
HENRY
Hey
NATALIE
Hey
HENRY
So tomorrow's the dance
It's annoying I know
But let's go
NATALIE
Not a chance
HENRY
Let me know you again
NATALIE
Not right now
HENRY
Ok when? Say wait and I'll wait
NATALIE
It's already too late
HENRY
There's no way it's too late
NATALIE
Hey, hey
HENRY
There's no way, I'll stay by your side
NATALIE
Henry listen, just shut up and listen.
HENRY
Why do I get denied?
NATALIE
You remind me of me, and how fucked up I can be.
HENRY
Ok, hey, let's start over clean slate
I'll come by here at 8
If you show
Then we'll go
If you don't, well we'll see
NATALIE
You just don't give up
HENRY
So don't give up on me
NATALIE
Goodbye Henry
DIANA
It's been four weeks since the treatment
And my mind is still a mess
And what's left to be remembered
Well it's anybody's guess
Cause my past is like the weather
It will come and it will go
I don't know, even know
What it is that I don't know
I'm some Christopher Columbus
Sailing out into my mind
With no map of where I'm going
Or of what I've left behind
I don't the things I don't know
I'm sure something's missing
I wish it would show
I don't know, you say take it slow
I do, but how I do, I don't know
DR. MADDEN
Are you talking with your husband?
DIANA
Well he hasn't much to say
DR. MADDEN
Is helping you remember?
DIANA
I remember that's his way
DR. MADDEN
Does the puzzle come together
Piece my piece and row by row?
DIANA
I don't know, I don't know
Where the fucking pieces go
Cause I don't how this started
So I won't know when it's done
DR. MADDEN
Have you talked of your depression
Your delusions and your son?
DIANA (spoken)
My what?
DR. MADDEN (spoken)
I think you and your husband should talk more.
DIANA (spoken)
We should talk more? That's it?
I don't even remember marrying this man, its not like I'm not some
sexually frustrated soccer mom.
DR. MADDEN (spoken)
Interestingly, the underlying challenges are similar. I'll see you next time.
DIANA (spoken)
But
Song Overview

Song Credits
- Featuring: Alice Ripley
- Album: Next to Normal (Original Broadway Cast Recording)
- Release Date: 2009-05-12
- Producers: Tom Kitt, Joel Moss, David Stone, Kurt Deutsch
- Writers: Tom Kitt & Brian Yorkey
- Genre: Broadway, Musical Theatre, Rock Musical
- Track #: 24
- Label: Ghostlight Records
- Language: English
- Instruments: Guitar, Drums, Bass, Violin, Cello, Keyboards
- © 2009 Ghostlight Records. All Rights Reserved.
Song Meaning and Annotations

“Aftershocks” isn’t a song — it’s a haunting echo, a psychological tremor. Performed by Aaron Tveit as Gabe, with Alice Ripley echoing as Diana, the track serves as the emotional debris following a seismic intervention: electroconvulsive therapy. And like any true aftershock, it arrives when you least expect it, quietly undoing any sense of recovery.
Gabe as Ghost, Memory, or Manifestation
They’ve managed to get rid of me / I’m gone without a trace
Gabe isn’t real — not in the physical sense. He’s a projection, a shadow cast by Diana’s mental illness and past trauma. But in this number, he asserts his permanence. It’s the chilling thesis of the song: you can erase memory, but not meaning. Not grief. Not love. And not guilt.
The Cure That Hurts
They’ve cleared you of my memory / And many more as well
The song exposes the blunt-force nature of psychiatric treatments. Electric convulsion therapy is described with alarming detachment — “shock who we can’t save.” It’s both critique and cry, a poetic indictment of the desperation behind erasure-as-healing.
The Lyrical Terrain
The phrase “aftershocks” functions on multiple levels — geological metaphor, psychological residue, and narrative technique. Each line Gabe sings piles up like fallen bricks of a collapsed house: “They’ve cut away the cancer / But forgot to fill the hole.” You don’t just grieve what you lost. You grieve not knowing what you lost.
Structure and Sound
Musically, “Aftershocks” is minimalist — brooding strings, occasional piano, vocals that feel like whispers inside your skull. The melody wavers like static, underlining the distortion between Diana’s mind and what’s “real.” This isn't a song for an audience — it’s a song for an internal monologue, overheard.
Similar Songs

- "I’m Alive" – Aaron Tveit (Next to Normal) While “Aftershocks” mourns memory’s erasure, “I’m Alive” boasts about its inescapability. Both sung by Gabe, one is hauntingly seductive, the other devastatingly final. The songs mirror each other — beginning and end of Diana’s hallucinatory cycle.
- "Waving Through a Window" – Ben Platt (Dear Evan Hansen) Another psychological soliloquy. Both characters feel invisible yet overwhelmed. Gabe is a ghost; Evan is ghosted by life. The melodies differ, but the undercurrent of isolation and yearning to connect is strikingly similar.
- "Left Behind" – Norbert Leo Butz (Spring Awakening) Loss hangs thick in both songs. Where “Aftershocks” deals with psychological death, “Left Behind” handles the physical. Still, both explore the trauma of absence — what stays when someone’s gone, and how unbearable the silence can be.
Questions and Answers

- Who is Gabe in “Aftershocks”?
- Gabe is Diana’s deceased son, a hallucination born of grief and mental illness. In this song, he represents the psychological consequences of losing memories of him.
- What is the main message of “Aftershocks”?
- That some wounds — especially emotional ones — linger even after the supposed cure. Erasing the memory of pain doesn’t erase its impact.
- Why does the song reference ECT (electroconvulsive therapy)?
- Because Diana undergoes ECT in the plot, and this song represents the aftermath — Gabe as a voice not silenced by memory loss, but simmering beneath it.
- Is this song a duet?
- Not in the traditional sense, but Diana does sing one haunting line at the end, underscoring her still-flickering connection to the memory of Gabe.
- How does “Aftershocks” fit into the structure of Next to Normal?
- It follows “Better Than Before” and acts as a thematic punctuation mark — the high cost of a seemingly successful treatment, and the emotional wreckage left behind.
Fan and Media Reactions
“This song punches you in the soul. Quiet but devastating.”— TheatricalSoul27
“Aaron Tveit’s voice here is both angelic and sinister. Perfect paradox.”— BrokenStrings_99
“Every time I hear ‘They moved me from your memory, I’m still there in your soul’ I fall apart.”— GriefAndShowtunes
“This is why Next to Normal is in a league of its own. Songs like this don’t just entertain, they haunt you.”— MusicalMind
“The fact that Diana sings just one line makes it even more gut-wrenching. Silence as statement.”— NatalieFromNatalie