Yesterday (March 16), Taylor Swift surprised fans by announcing she was dropping four songs — all of which are now out on streaming platforms. One of which was the re-recorded version of “Safe And Sound (Taylor’s Version),” which originally appeared on the soundtrack for the Hunger Games and was a collab with The Civil Wars.
To many’s surprise, Swift brought both members Joy Williams and John Paul White back for her 2023 version of the song, long after they had broken up as a group. However, new fans or just those unaware with the Civil Wars’ lore might be wondering why they ended the band in the first place.
Williams was married to the band’s manager, Nate Yetton, and this caused a divide in her creative partnership with Paul White — leading many rumors to spread about potential infidelity. In 2015, she spoke about it on an episode of Death, Sex, & Money.
“I’m sad, because we don’t speak anymore. And, yeah, I feel like I’m looking at a ghost in a way,” Williams said. “And I think rumors, rumors, rumors, so many rumors were, you know, circulated …
“And I think that, a lot of times, that’s what people, I think, are gravitated to, on top of the music itself, was this sort of fascination of, ‘But they’re not married, but there’s this … there’s this creative connection that’s very strong,’” she added. “And it was very strong. Until it wasn’t.”
However, as time has gone on, both seem to have healed from the situation — enough to partially reunite for the pure power of Taylor Swift.
