#the civil wars

[lauriemarch]

when mitski said "i don't think i can stand to be where you don't see me" and phoebe bridgers said "i'm gonna kill you if you don't beat me to it" and florence and the machine said "i love you so much i'm gonna let you kill me" and taylor swift said "i would die for you in secret" and mitski said "i say your name in hopes you'll hear it in the stars" and lorde said "i love you 'till you call the cops on me" and bleachers said "you steal the air out of my lungs you make me feel it" and the civil wars said "i don't love you but i always will" and there's so much art about killing and being killed and take it all, take my whole heart straight out of my chest, it's yours, it's always been yours

[ishkabibblethings]

[raayllum]

There wasn't a wrong or a right he could choose He did what he had to do Oh he did what he had to do Give me the burden, give me the blame I'll shoulder the load, and I'll swallow the shame

[asoftepiloguemylove]

on heartbreak

The Civil Wars Poison & Wine // Brokeback Mountain (2005) dir. Ang Lee // Sue Zhao // pinterest // MOTHICA LAST CIGARETTE // Micahel Cunningham The Hours // I rymden finns inga känslor (2010) dir. Andreas Öhman (via @anamorphosis-and-isolate) // pinterest

[merrilymp3]

if you like the amazing devil you will like the civil wars if you like the civil wars you will like the crane wives if you like the crane wives you will like the amazing devil!!!

[ineffable-hyperfixation]

So I keep coming across animatics on YouTube and thinking "wow this is great, must be recent" and they are not but look at this one!!!

I effing love this holy shit! If someone knows if they have a Tumblr please let me know!!!

[everswift]

DO YALL EVEN REALIZE THAT JOY WILLIAMS AND JOHN PAUL WHITE STOPPED TALKING AFTER THE BAND SPLIT UP AND THEY'RE BOTH ON THE RE-RECORD 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

[buckttommy]

i didn't knew the civil wars break was messy you know why?

So, the official story is that there was "internal discord and irreconcilable differences of ambition." I think there was a bit more to it than that.

First of all, what you have to understand is that Joy and JPW were not married. I can't remember if JPW was with anyone at the time, but Joy, at least, was married and the man she was married to (Nate) was their manager. Joy and JPW not being married is extremely significant to the story because, if you're familiar with The Civil Wars, then you know the two of them had some of the most enchanting and electrifying artistic chemistry I've ever seen from two people (and have yet to see again) and a lot of people (myself included) thought they were together.

Anyway, Joy and JPW allegedly started to go their separate ways creatively after Barton Hollow. According to her, she was the one who started to drift away from him first. She describes their split as a "divorce" and said that they don't talk anymore. Following the fall of The Civil Wars, her marriage to Nate also collapsed (and almost failed, though I think they're still together). While Joy, in some way, attributes the destruction of *waves hand* everything to rumors spreading about a romance between herself and JPW, it's not hard to see why those rumors spread. Me personally, I think there was a bit of emotional infidelity (at the very least) going on between her and JPW that might have caused problems (and I'm not saying that to be messy or judgemental or anything like that; songwriting, making music with someone is intimate and sometimes this shit just happens) but they'll never confirm or deny either way.

The point is that the destruction of The Civil Wars was nasty and thorough, so the fact that they agreed to collaborate with Taylor again for Safe & Sound (Taylor's Version) is fucking HUGE. I doubt they had much significant contact throughout the rerecording process (if they had any contact at all; if they each recorded their parts separately, they wouldn't need to interact at all) but the fact that both of them even agreed to it at all is pretty shocking to me. They don't even acknowledge The Civil Wars' existence. Joy went on to make her own music, JPW went on to make his own music, I think, but nothing they're doing now is as good as what they did back then. I don't know if they lost something intrinsic when they split, but whatever it is, they each have yet to get it back. That's why I still listen to The Civil Wars and not whatever it is they're doing on their own. You can't replicate greatness and you certainly can't get it back once it's been broken.

This was long, but there you have it! The fruits of one of my untapped hyperfixations. I should really go to bed lol

[claireofluxembourg]

TAYLOR BROUGHT THE CIVIL WARS BACK FROM THE DEAD FOR A NEW VERSION OF SAFE AND SOUND I WANT TO DIEEEEE

[innitmarvelous2]

Does anyone remember The Civil Wars?

[echoexmachina]

Was it all in my fantasy? Were you only imaginary?

(lyrics under cut)

Where are you now? Was it all in my fantasy? Where are you now? Were you only imaginary?

I remember tears streaming down your face When I said, "I'll never let you go." When all those shadows almost killed your light I remember you said, "Don't leave me here alone," But all that's dead and gone and passed tonight

Where are you now? Atlantis Under the sea Under the sea Where are you now? Another dream The monster's running wild inside of me I'm faded

(Where are you now?) Don't you dare look out your window, darling. Everything's on fire (Where are you now?) The war outside our door keeps raging on (Where are you now?) Hold on to this lullaby (Another dream?) Even when the music's gone Gone

Just close your eyes The sun is going down You'll be alright No one can hurt you now Come morning light You and I'll be safe and sound

(Where are you now?) Just close your eyes (Atlantis) The sun is going down (Under the sea) You'll be alright (Under the sea) No one can hurt you now (Where are you now?) Come morning light (Another dream) You and I'll be safe and sound (The monster's running wild inside of me)

Under the bright but faded lights You've set my heart on fire Where are you now? Where are you now? Under the bright but faded lights You've set my heart on fire Where are you now? So lost, I'm faded

(Just close your eyes) These shallow waters never met what I needed (You'll be alright) I'm letting go, a deeper dive (Come morning light) Eternal silence of the sea, (You and I'll be) I'm breathing (Safe and sound) I'm Alive.

Was it all in my fantasy? Were you only imaginary?

[andtherestishistory13]

I have no proof, but I think Jake Kiszka would really vibe with The Civil Wars

[slowsweetlove]

[frazzledsoul]

I've been thinking of a Literati Civil Wars AU based on the excessive amount of Civil Wars lore I know, so here goes.

Joy Williams was born in Michigan but grew up in California. Her parents were involved in ministry and she was a CCM artist for many years, releasing three albums that sold well and was nominated for three Dove Awards (which are the CCM version of the Grammys). She married her first husband at the tail end of her CCM days and then decided she wanted to branch outside of the genre (he was her manager). Her first big gig was a song for an Oscar Meyer weiner campaign. Then she had some songs on Grey's Anatomy, met John Paul White at a songwriter's camp in Nashville, and alt country history was born.

So I'm thinking this backstory doesn't work if Lorelai raises Rory, but it absolutely does if her grandparents do. So Rory grows up the adored daughter (granddaughter) of devout Christians, who is a CCM teen prodigy and rises up quickly in the industry, fulfilling all the expectations of multiple generations, all the while she is yearning to break free and do her own kind of music and be more like the independent biological mother she barely knows.

So the husband/manager is Logan, of course, who Rory married young and has an excessive amount of influence over her life and career, as he is the route out of the CCM world she wants to leave behind.

John Paul White was born a Muscle Shoals boy (represent, y'all) but grew up on a chicken farm in Tennessee. He seems have been raised Catholic while Joy's background is probably evangelical (I don't know this for sure, just an observation). He recorded a few albums on his own before hooking up with Joy at the songwriter's camp.

IRL, John Paul is married and has four kids, but I don't want to incorporate that into the AU here. So I'm thinking Jess grew up with his mom on the chicken farm (spoiler alert: there's a cult there) but his family's roots are in Muscle Shoals and that's where Luke lives. So Jess is drawn to the musical culture of that area and all the history that comes with it, as its his route out of his own background. And yet he's an iconoclast and doesn't quite fit in there, because of the Catholic thing. He starts writing super dark lyrics and wearing a full suit during every performance.

So John Paul (Jess) and Rory (Joy) meet at the songwriter's camp. Sparks fly. Their disparate backgrounds and varying religious beliefs make up the yin/yang of their buoyant yet deeply depressing songs, which are always about that attraction you hate yourself for but can't fight. They don't travel with a band (The Civil Wars didn't, either) so their reputation is just based on the music and their chemistry onstage. They become fabulously successful with their first album, win multiple Grammys, and prepare to start recording their second album.

Then Rory becomes pregnant with Logan's baby (hello, AYITL plot twist) and things really heat up: Rory and Jess's emotional affair proceeds to a physical one, and Logan starts to realize that even the baby that he thought would save his marriage isn't enough to fight the chemistry. He's the manager and starts to steer their career towards featuring only Joy, wanting Jess out of the way ASAP. The baby is born and things get worse. Rory is torn between the two of them. Eventually they go on deep hiatus and Rory and Jess stop speaking. Jess retreats to Muscle Shoals and refuses to promote the second album: it wins a Grammy, which he accepts alone because he and Rory can't be in the same room together. Their last release is an alt country version of You Are My Sunshine.

(Most of the aforementioned events happened to the actual band, except the affair, which I can't prove, of course).

Rory releases a pop album that does nothing. She and her family move back to California. Jess starts an acclaimed indie record label in Muscle Shoals, where he releases albums by local artists as well as an all-but-forgotten Muscle Shoals songwriter/session player who he takes on tour with him (IRL, this would be Donny Fritts. Look it up). He releases a few solo albums but never reaches the success he had with Rory. The record label would be the alt country version of Truncheon Press, I think.

So IRL, Joy has a second child several years after the first one, breaks up with her husband almost immediately afterwards, and releases an alt-country album that is not as good as those in her Civil Wars days. Both she and her husband remarried in the years afterwards. John Paul White continued to tour, record, and produce albums for other artists. I saw him in concert twice and he absolutely never mentioned The Civil Wars. They remain on non speaking terms, apparently: they re-recorded Safe and Sound with Taylor Swift separately and under their own names. What actually happened there? Who the hell knows.

So I'd make the Literati end of this saga simpler: she can never really make it work with Logan again after falling in love with Jess, and they divorce. She meets Jess at the joint session of re-recording the pop star's song and they fall in love again, have their own kid, and make beautiful music once again. The pop star credits herself for playing Cupid.

[jessepinkmvn]

anyone who isn’t freaking out about the civil wars reuniting for safe and sound tv clearly never had their obsessive phase in which they consumed every live performance of those two then went down the rabbit hole of the affair allegations and why they broke up