The Next Civil War?

What is more emotional than a break up? Whether you are the one broken up with or the one shattering the seemingly perfect relationship, break ups are hard, and there are always two sides to the story.


The Civil Wars exhume all of the deeply buried emotion of a break up in their hauntingly beautiful song “Poison and Wine.” The song embodies the very idea of being in that relationship that you know isn’t working, holding on to something you know is dead.
Taylor Swift, the Queen of break up songs herself stated, “I think [“Poison and Wine”] is my favorite duet. It’s exquisite.”

While, yes, the song itself lacks lyrical genius, it makes up for it with the way in which the lyrics are expressed. Band members John Paul White and Joy Williams counter each other, back and forth, through the verses building up to the chorus where they join together. They convey the division of falling out of love through the music of the song. In the music video, John Paul White sits by a window strumming his guitar while Joy Williams sits, just out of sight in the next room, playing the piano.

What I love most about The Civil Wars is their completely unique style. They present themselves in a dated fashion that gives listeners the feel of time travelling into the past. From the way they dress to the dated look of their music videos to the emotion of their singing, nothing quite compares to what they have going for them.

Although they are not very well known, they have several other songs worth listening to (“Dance Me to the End of Love” and “Barton Hallow.”) While neither of these songs quite reaches the pedestal “Poison and Wine” rests on, they still both contain The Civil Wars’ presence that is the only one of its kind.




The Civil Wars exhume all of the deeply buried emotion of a break up in their hauntingly beautiful song “Poison and Wine.” The song embodies the very idea of being in that relationship that you know isn’t working.

While, the song itself lacks lyrical genius, the way the lyrics are expressed makes up for it. Band members John Paul White and Joy Williams counter each other, until they join together in the chorus. They convey the division of falling out of love through the music of the song which is split into a guitar and piano part.
What I love most about The Civil Wars is their completely unique style. They present themselves in a dated fashion that gives listeners the feel of time travelling into the past.

Although they are not very well known, they have several other songs worth listening to. While neither of these songs quite reaches the pedestal “Poison and Wine” rests on, they still both contain The Civil Wars’ presence that is the only one of its kind.



Channeling their unique style, The Civil Wars exhume all of the deeply buried emotion of a break up in their hauntingly beautiful song “Poison and Wine.” The song embodies the very idea of being in that relationship that you know isn’t working. Although they are not very well known, they have several other songs worth listening to.



The Civil Wars introduce a style that is all their own with the hit song “Poison and Wine.”