Songfacts®:

• The Civil Wars were the duo of Northern California CCM vocalist Joy Williams and Alabama-based country guitarist/songwriter John Paul White. The pair wrote this song not long after they got together on the day Barack Obama was inaugurated. The composed it in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, where White lived. He recalled: "I started playing the guitar figure and she starting singing this amazing Appalachian kind of melody, and I'm like, 'Don't even pretend that you're the pop girl and you come out with s--- like that!' I don't know where this stuff is coming from, but she's drawing it from somewhere, and it's amazing."
• "My Father's Father" is a great example of the musical chemistry between Joy Williams and John Paul White that earned The Civil Wars' debut album, Barton Hollow, widespread acclaim, including a Grammy win for Best Folk Album. They appeared to have romantic chemistry as well, but were married to other people. In 2012, it went downhill for the duo when they set out on a European tour and started work on their second album. Their artistic differences came to a head, and they ended up canceling the tour and completed the album under heavy tension. When the album was released in 2013, White refused to promote it and Williams did her best to explain that it wasn't working out for the duo. The album debuted at #1 in America, but The Civil Wars were over.