They seemed polar opposites, but had a lot in common.
They were both fine musicians by themselves. Had a couple albums under their belts, and a reasonable amount of fans.
The true magic happened when they combined their powers.
The Civil wars was Joy Williams and John Paul White.
They basically came onto the scene with nothing but a guitar and a camcorder. They not only created beatiful and simple original music, but they also created beautiful covers that matched their unique style.
Fans came for their undeniable musical chemistry, and stayed for the humorous on-stage banter.
I’m glad they had such a big online presence, because I’m always gonna remember them as “the band I could never see live.”
I bought tickets twice, for their Stockholm concert. First, they cancelled. Second, they broke up.
I’m still upset about it. Not as much as I’m upset about how they treated each other at awards ceremonies after they broke up, but still quite upset.
Eavesdrop is not only a departure from their usual style, but it’s also one of the songs that only live in the recorded version. They had only one video from this album, because it was released after they’d disbanded. They had no live versions of this song because, again, it was recorded after they stopped playing in front of audiences.
So, why Eavesdrop? Because this song feels like a precursor to whatever happened to them. It’s the “what if they’d decided differently” song. The brief moment of hope, before reality dawned on them. The joy that comes from ignorance.