Oh Henry

Album: The Civil Wars (2013)
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Songfacts®:

  • The Civil Wars duo of Joy Williams and John Paul White wrote this slice of fulsome blues rock one week before their debut album, Barton Hollow, came out. They penned it in the mountains of Salt Lake City during the duo's first Sundance Festival. Williams explained: "We conjured up a story about a woman who was married to a philandering man. She is begging her man to level with her, and letting him know she can only take so much, a la 'it's gonna kill me or it's gonna kill you.'"
  • By the time The Civil Wars started recording their second album in 2012, they were already on the outs. The effortless chemistry they had on their first album had vanished in a swirl of artistic and personal differences. "Oh Henry" was written before they fractured and came in handy because they couldn't write together by this time. The album debuted at #1 in America, but by this time the Civil Wars had ended.

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