The Petrified Forest mini-album is inspired by the movie of the same name, released in 1936 and directed by Archie Mayo. Alan Squier, a failed, world-weary British writer, hikes into an isolated, weather-beaten desert diner in Arizona owned by Jason Marple. Jason's daughter, Gabrielle is immediately taken with the disillusioned intellectual, since they share idealistic dreams of escaping the stark reality of their lives.