Civil War

Album: The Good Parts (2017)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This was one of the easiest songs that Andy Grammer has ever written. He told Billboard:

    "I'd already written a song that day, after writing on the bus, I went up to the hotel and laid down - and this idea just started tapping on my head. I think I might have actually said it out loud, like, 'I don't want to! I've already done it today.' And it just wouldn't leave, so I just like sat on my bed and wrote a song in - it probably took me about 40 minutes. It's such a sweet, sweet song. That doesn't happen very often."
  • Andy Grammer is a member of the Bahá'í Faith, which sees God as a single, personal, inaccessible, omnipresent creator of all things in the universe. Here, he questions the Almighty as to why humans can't stop doing bad.

    Why you put good into my heart
    Then tease me with evil since the day I was born?
    Guilty and confused, I ripped myself apart
    When you always knew I'd be a civil war


    He explained: "That one to me is a really sweet kind of argument with God about, 'You created me, and if you knew while you were creating me that I was gonna be a civil war between being a good person and having bad tendencies, why? Why did you have to make me that way?' And it's such a sweet, simple idea."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Wedding Bell Blues

Wedding Bell BluesSong Writing

When a song describes a wedding, it's rarely something to celebrate - with one big exception.

Neal Smith - "I'm Eighteen"

Neal Smith - "I'm Eighteen"They're Playing My Song

With the band in danger of being dropped from their label, Alice Cooper drummer Neal Smith co-wrote the song that started their trek from horror show curiosity to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Janis Ian: Married in London, but not in New York

Janis Ian: Married in London, but not in New YorkSong Writing

Can you be married in one country but not another? Only if you're part of a gay couple. One of the first famous singers to come out as a lesbian, Janis wrote a song about it.

The Untold Story Of Fiona Apple's Extraordinary Machine

The Untold Story Of Fiona Apple's Extraordinary MachineSong Writing

Fiona's highly-anticipated third album almost didn't make it. Here's how it finally came together after two years and a leak.

Ian Astbury of The Cult

Ian Astbury of The CultSongwriter Interviews

The Cult frontman tells who the "Fire Woman" is, and talks about performing with the new version of The Doors.

Don Brewer of Grand Funk

Don Brewer of Grand FunkSongwriter Interviews

The drummer and one of the primary songwriters in Grand Funk talks rock stardom and Todd Rundgren.