Williams and White met in 2008, during a song-writing session or "writing camp" at a music studio in Nashville, Tennessee. According to Williams, the idea for the band's name came as she "was driving around town looking at all the Civil War monuments." Their first recording was of a 2009 performance at Eddie's Attic in Georgia which they released as a free Internet download called Live at Eddie's Attic. Later that year, they released a digital extended-play album, called Poison & Wine, produced by Charlie Peacock, and the title song appeared on the TV show Grey's Anatomy.
In 2011, The Civil Wars released the album Barton Hollow; which reached No. 12 on the Billboard 200 chart, No. 54 on the UK Albums Chart and received Grammy nominations in the Best Folk Album and Best Country Duo/Group Performance categories. The album was included on several critics' Best Albums of 2011 lists, including NPR Music, Paste, Time, Associated Press, AllMusic.com The Wall Street Journal, Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly and USA Today. They released the singles "Tracks in the Snow" and "Safe & Sound".
In 2012, The Civil Wars partnered with T-Bone Burnett on the film score for the documentary A Place At The Table (previously known as Finding North) and collaborated on the song "Lily Love" with The Chieftains. They released a 7" vinyl album with cover versions of Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" and Portishead's "Sour Times" in April. The duo was featured in American Way magazine, USA Today, on the cover of Billboard, and released a photo book called To Whom It May Concern.
In November 2012, the duo went on hiatus, citing "internal discord and irreconcilable differences of ambition". In August 2014, The Civil Wars announced an official break-up through press release.
Dust to Dust
The Civil Wars Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It's not what you say
It's not your laughter that gives you away
You're just lonely
You've been lonely, too long
All your actin'
Your thin disguise
They don't fool me
You've been lonely, too long
Let me in the wall, you've built around
And we can light a match and burn it down
Let me hold your hand and dance 'round and 'round the flame
In front of us
Dust to
You've held your head up
You've fought the fight
You bear the scars
You've done your time
Listen to me
You've been lonely, too long
Let me in the wall, you've built around
And we can light a match and burn them down
And let me hold your hand and dance 'round and 'round the flames
In front of us
Dust to dust
You're like a mirror, reflecting me
Takes one to know one, so take it from me
You've been lonely
You've been lonely, too long
We've been lonely
We've been lonely, too long
The lyrics of The Civil Wars' song Dust to Dust express a deep sense of loneliness that has been harbored for far too long. The singer of the song speaks to someone who has built a wall around themselves, putting up a thin disguise of acting and perfectly delivered lies to hide their loneliness. The singer sees through this facade and understands that the person they are speaking to has been lonely for a long time. The song asks the person to let them in and burn down the wall they have built around themselves, allowing themselves to connect with another person and to feel less alone.
The chorus of the song repeats the metaphor of burning down the wall, asking the person to let themselves feel vulnerable and allowing the singer to hold their hand and dance around the flames. This is a powerful image of two people burning down their defenses and allowing themselves to be seen and known by another person.
The song's final verse brings the message home, as the singer turns to the second-person plural and includes themselves in the description of loneliness. They suggest that they have been lonely as well and that it is time for them to let go of their defenses and connect.
Overall, Dust to Dust is a powerful representation of the power of vulnerability and connection in combating loneliness. It offers hope to those who have been lonely for a long time and encourages them to take the risk of letting someone in.
Line by Line Meaning
It's not your eyes
Your eyes don't reveal the truth about you
It's not what you say
Your words don't reveal the truth about you
It's not your laughter that gives you away
Your laughter doesn't reveal the truth about you
You're just lonely
You're feeling lonely
You've been lonely, too long
You've been feeling lonely for too long
All your actin'
All the things you do
Your thin disguise
The mask you wear is flimsy
All your perfectly delivered lies
All the lies you tell so convincingly don't fool me
They don't fool me
Your lies don't fool me
Let me in the wall, you've built around
Let me break through the walls you've built to protect yourself
And we can light a match and burn it down
Together we can destroy the walls that keep you isolated
Let me hold your hand and dance 'round and 'round the flame
Let's embrace the danger and uncertainty together
In front of us
We face a challenging situation
Dust to
The dust and ash from the burning wall and our struggles
You've held your head up
You've been strong despite your loneliness
You've fought the fight
You've battled through your struggles
You bear the scars
Your hardships have left you with visible wounds
You've done your time
You've endured your difficult period
Listen to me
Pay attention to what I say
You've been lonely, too long
You've been feeling lonely for too long
We've been lonely
We've both felt lonely
We've been lonely, too long
We've both felt lonely for too long
You're like a mirror, reflecting me
We are alike in many ways
Takes one to know one, so take it from me
I understand your loneliness because I have felt it too
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: JOHN WHITE, JOY WILLIAMS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Amber Carter
LYRICS:
It's not your eyes
It's not what you say
It's not your laughter that gives you away
You're just lonely
You've been lonely, too long
All your actin'
Your thin disguise
All your perfectly delivered lies
They don't fool me
You've been lonely, too long
Let me in the wall, you've built around
And we can light a match and burn it down
Let me hold your hand and dance 'round and 'round the flame
In front of us
Dust to
You've held your head up
You've fought the fight
You bear the scars
You've done your time
Listen to me
You've been lonely, too long
Let me in the wall, you've built around
And we can light a match and burn them down
And let me hold your hand and dance 'round and 'round the flames
In front of us
Dust to dust
You're like a mirror, reflecting me
Takes one to know one, so take it from me
You've been lonely
You've been lonely, too long
We've been lonely
We've been lonely, too long
Ann Snow
"Dust To Dust"
It's not your eyes
It's not what you say
It's not your laughter
That gives you away
You're just lonely
You've been lonely too long
All your acting, your thin disguise
All your perfectly delivered lines
They don't fool me
You've been lonely too long
Let me in the walls
You've built around
We can light a match
And burn them down
Let me hold your hand
And dance 'round and 'round the flames
In front of us
Dust to dust
You've held your head up
You've fought the fight
You bear the scars
You've done your time
Listen to me
You've been lonely too long
Let me in the walls
You've built around
We can light a match
And burn them down
Let me hold your hand
And dance 'round and 'round the flames
In front of us
Dust to dust
You're like a mirror, reflecting me
Takes one to know one, so take it from me
You've been lonely
You've been lonely too long
We've been lonely
We've been lonely too long
Jaxx Marie Cambridge
This is, hands down, the deepest, most heart wretching song I have ever heard. It's simply miraculous. Duo's like these two don't happen very often. To listen to this song is like having a cord going straight into your heart, pumping the exact emotions deep inside of it. Possibly one of the best songs my ears have ever had the honor of listening to.
Rosie Pena
The One That Got Away and Poison & Wine are two of my other favorites that I think are absolutely hauntingly beautiful and sad at the same time
Joe M
@Rosie Pena They had such great chemistry. Poison and Wine, Dust to Dust, 20 years, and The One That Got Away are my favorites. My wife and I have both albums long with their solo stuff and they are each amazing in their own right. My wife found The Sweeplings while listening to The Civil Wars station on Pandora and they are very similar to The Civil Wars. I believe John Paul White produced some of their music. Let's hope for a reunion at some point, sooner vs later to be sure. Cheers!
Christel GUITTON
What a great text from you to explain how this song goes to your ears and your soul thank you very much I'm so happy to read it🙏❤️
Combat Barbie
I wanted to let you know how much this song means to me. My husband is a 3 tour combat Retired Army veteran & has severe PTSD among physical limitations. I heard this song and I cried & cried. These words speak volumes to how he has built up walls to protect himself from his damaged traumatic past. We have been married 13 years now & I played this song for him and he broke down and cried. Your music reaches beyond just those who listen to songs, they reach the heart & have the power to heal............Thank you so much for this song!! You two are my favorite
Yuuka Sloop Splattums
So happy that you and your husband could connect by the power of great music!! :) hope you guys are well and have an amazing day!
Marcus Wisecarver
Thank you for your service!!! I salute you.
Anna Giandi
+Combat Barbie, I cried when i see your comment, 7 lines of your post make me realize what real love is better than 7,000 lines of bestseller love novel! Hope you guys be strong and happy forever
ps. sorry for my bad english, i'm not native speaker ;-)
Justin Ravencroft
thank you both for all your sacrifices
Judy Thomson
+Justin Snyder Are you the Justin Snyder I know? Hope so!