Eavesdrop

The Civil Wars duo of Joy Williams and John Paul White brought in their producer, Charlie Peacock, on this song. Williams explained: "He helped with arrangements and really helped take the song to a totally different place. Sometimes as an artist, you can't see what needs rearranging when you're so 'in it.' Charlie brought perspective. Almost like an eavesdrop within an 'Eavesdrop.'" Peacock added more than perspective to the sessions for the album, the duo's second. By this time, Williams and White weren't on speaking terms and it was up to him to get them to finish it. They managed to complete it and it debuted at #1 in America, but The Civil Wars never performed together again and announced their split in 2014.

Williams gave birth to a son, Miles Alexander, in between the recording of The Civil Wars' Barton Hollow and self-titled albums. This song highlighted to her the change in her voice between the two records. She explained: "When I was first pregnant and performing on the road, I thought something was wrong with my voice. I was having a hard time hitting high notes, while my low notes kept getting deeper and deeper. I did some research with the help of a vocal coach, and learned that hormone levels affect a female singing range. Having a boy, naturally, upped my testosterone levels, making low notes easier to hit and higher notes harder to reach." "But the great thing?," she added. After having Miles, I regained my high range AND have kept my low range. Pregnancy literally changed the makeup of my vocal cords. There's a different timbre to it now, and I love that I can hear the story of my son in my singing."