"The Afterman"

"The Afterman" is a song by the American rock band Coheed and Cambria. It is the third track on their 2012 album The Afterman: Ascension and is the second single released for it. A demo version of the song was released on The Afterman: Ascension (Big Beige Demos) collection, and a live version was released on The Afterman: Live album.

Lyrics
[Verse 1] She gave her heart to a falling star When news filtered through of his tragedy All the walls went up

Around a world, she declines As the tears from her eyes fall No one understands and no one will All she has lost

[Chorus] If he's not here, then where? If he's not here, then where? If he's not here, then where? If he's not here, then where?

[Verse 2] When she found it, there In the cold, blue glare The words distressed and unfamiliar Where the feelings seared

An emptiness had hung And in her chest, she clenched Reality settled as the memories raced While on the screen, he lived

[Pre-Chorus] She teared; "Your selfishness has robbed you Of the man you could've been I wouldn't change a thing about you I love you dearly, my friend"

[Chorus] If he's not here, then where? If he's not here, then where? My love, been searching for my Afterman

If he's not here, then where? If he's not here, then where? My love, been searching for my Afterman

Music Video
An official music video was released for the single on November 13, 2012. It was directed by Robert "Roboshobo" Schober.



Story Context
"" In this chapter, we visit Sirius Amory's wife, Meri, who is at their home on Valencine. She didn't want Sirius to go and was initially angry with him for risking his life on what seemed to be a fairy tale.

The first line, "She gave her heart to a falling star" makes the comparison of Sirius to a falling star. He had never been famous and was ambitious about the discoveries he might make studying the Keywork, which others thought was not relevant in a practical manner. But Meri stood by him, and even hoped that one day, once his dreams were fulfilled, they would be able to settle down—have a family and go on vacations. However, this plan is cut short with the following line, "When news filtered through of his tragedy." Meri is a columnist and taking a break to surf the web, she comes across reports of Sirius having been feared dead. This is described in the second verse. His ship, the Meriwell (named for her), inexplicably exploded and no one can find traces of him in the debris. Sirius has only been gone a week or so, and her worst fears have come true.

The last bit of the first verse describes how she deals with the news. Reporters begin coming to her home, calling her to ask for her thoughts and feelings and information. But she just wants to be alone in her sorrow. They don't care about that, just the story. The chorus is the thought that echos through her mind, "If he's not here, then where?"

In the pre-chorus, time has passed, and Meri thinks to herself, "If you had listened to me and stayed behind, you would be alive, with me. But I loved you as you were and let you go. And now you are gone." She confirms that she loved him, but calls him "friend" because she is accepting that they can never be what they once were. In the final chorus, we get confirmation that much time has passed in the line, "My love, been searching for my Afterman" since we know she no longers considers him her lover, but a dear friend.

Background
Sanchez wrote that the main inspiration for this song happened on a trip he took with his wife, Chondra, to Florida. They had been on a boat all day, and didn't have cell reception until they came back. When she checked her Facebook page, she'd found out that a dear friend of her's had passed away. He said, "I remember the cold impersonal blue glare glowing against her face... the emotions and tears released in an instant." She was asking questions in disbelief, while he tried to console her, but he thought it may have been a glimpse into what she would experience when he died, and the experience gave him the tone of loss for the whole album, but especially his song.

Trivia

 * This track utilizes a lot of string instruments to convey the delicate sound of loss. Tomas Ulrich played Cello, Nicole Federici played Viola, Chern Hwei Fung & Julianne Klopotic played Violins, and Orchestration was by Karl Berger.
 * In this song, the title "Afterman" is used to refer to Sirius. He is the Man in the Afterlife.
 * The entire lyrics in the pre-chorus is almost a direct quote from Sanchez's wife, Chondra Echert upon learning of her friend's death and sort of speaking out loud what she would have said to him if she could.
 * Sanchez said that on this album, this song would be the one he would choose to showcase his talent and progression.