"Editorial abstract illustration evoking the emotional arc of a song titled "Poison & Wine" by The Civil Wars. Dramatic quiet-to-loud arc, stormy climax. balanced composition. Mood: contemplative, melancholy. Visual style: contemporary editorial aesthetic. Painterly, grainy film texture, muted palette with strategic accent colors. The composition should read left-to-right like a timeline — calm on one side, intensifying toward the other. Strictly no faces, no text, no logos, no literal objects, no band imagery. Pure color-field abstraction with emotional weight. 16:9 editorial format."
Poison & Wine
The Civil Wars
Barton Hollow (2011)
Easy, low-key calm, right in the middle of 19,209 measured songs — measures out best for focus.
70
BPM
Poison & Wine by The Civil Wars is 70 BPM — Adagio (slow).
Half-time 35 BPM · Double-time 140 BPM · released 2011
Fan image for "Poison & Wine"
An abstract illustration of what this song feels like. Each image is built from a prompt — the text description fed to the image generator. Listeners submit their own prompts, upvote the ones that fit best, and the top-voted prompt drives the next regeneration. After 100 image votes, we make a new picture.
Does this image fit the song?
0 agree · 0 not quite · 0/100 toward next regeneration
Prompts in the running for the next image
Upvote the prompts you think best capture the song. The top-voted prompt drives the next regeneration. Submit your own at the bottom.
No listener prompts yet. Be the first to submit one below.
How would you describe this song?
One or two sentences. Describe what the song feels like — a scene, a metaphor, a color, a place. Good descriptions are specific and sensory. Your submission becomes a candidate prompt that others can upvote.
Share:
Share on X
Explore from this song · jump to the numbers · FAQ
Find its sonic twinHidden gems like itDial itSongs like thisAll tools
Song DNA
Notes: intense emotional delivery
Recommended for: anxiety relief meditation
This sits gently on the calm side. The track lurches between soft and loud with nothing abrupt to catch you off guard, over a clean texture. Soft, gentle vocals on top, at an unhurried mid-tempo. It’s fairly predictable, with a shape you can follow. On our 19,209-song scale, it sits more energetic than 22% of songs, calmer than the rest.
Cultural Context
Explores the duality of love and pain.
Listening Prompt
Notice the emotional weight in the vocals.
What to Expect
Maintains a steady emotional tone throughout.
affiliate links
Hear it the way it was made
The right gear changes everything.
Moods: contemplative, melancholy
Volume Warning
"Poison & Wine" climbs hard.
Dynamic range 8/10 places this in our upper band. The opening volume that feels comfortable will not be comfortable at the climax. If you are setting this up for a focused listen, anchor your volume to the quietest section, not the loudest. The arc is the point of the song; if you blunt it by riding the volume knob, you lose what makes it work. The Civil Wars built the dynamic shape on purpose. Plan around it.
How this song sits on each sensory axis
A dynamic range of 8/10 is in the upper band of our library. This song has a significant quiet-to-loud arc. For sensory-sensitive listening, set the opening volume well below your comfortable top-end; the climax will land harder than the intro suggests.
Sudden changes: none. Transitions are musically signaled — nothing will surprise you if you're only half-listening.
Texture: smooth.
Predictability is medium — conventional structure overall, with one or two moments that deviate from what you'd expect.
Vocal style: soft vocals.
Where this sits in The Civil Wars's catalog
We have 10 songs from The Civil Wars in the library. Of those, 2 are rated Safe, 7 Moderate, and 1 Intense. This song's dynamic range of 8/10 sits above the artist average of 6.8, making it the #2 most dynamic track of theirs in our library.
Other tracks from Barton Hollow
We have 7 songs from this album. Overall, the album leans moderate in sensory profile.
- Barton Hollow — safe DR 7
- The One That Got Away — moderate DR 6
- 20 Years — safe DR 5
- Dust to Dust — moderate DR 7
- I Had Me a Girl — moderate DR 6
- Same Old Same Old — moderate DR 7
2011 context
Released in 2011. We have 373 songs from that year in our library, averaging a dynamic range of 6.4/10. This track is about average than the year average. Explore more from the 2010s.
Explore by mood and tradition
Guides that may help
Jazz for Anxiety Relief: Which Subgenres Help and Which Overwhelm
Jazz for Anxiety Relief: Which Subgenres Help and Which Overwhelm — A guide for sensory-sensitive li…
Karma Police: Radiohead’s Eerie Joke About Power and Paranoia
Karma Police began as a band in-joke and became one of Radiohead’s defining songs — a queasy meditat…
How fast is "Poison & Wine"?
70 BPM — Slow (downtempo / ballad)
For running
Too slow for most running; good for warm-up walks or cool-down.
For workouts
Warm-up, cool-down, yoga, stretching.
For daily life
Sleep, meditation, reading, focus work.
Browse more songs at 70 BPM.
When "Poison & Wine" works, and when it doesn't
Use-case verdicts computed from the song's tempo, dynamics, and sensory profile.
✗
Focus / studying
No — too dynamic or too many surprises. Save for active listening.
✗
Running / workout
No — 70 BPM is too slow for sustained cardio.
✗
Sleep / winding down
No — contains elements that will keep an awake nervous system engaged.
✓
Driving / road trip
Yes — predictable enough for safe driving attention, interesting enough to stay engaged.
✓
Cooking / dinner background
Yes — sits in the background without demanding attention.
✓
Emotional release / catharsis
Yes — this is a song for actively feeling what you came to feel, not for background.
Related reading
Editorial guides that cover this song's use cases, moods, or artist.
Jazz for Anxiety Relief: Which Subgenres Help and Which Overwhelm
Jazz for Anxiety Relief: Which Subgenres Help and Which Overwhelm — A guide for sensory-sensitive listeners on musiciwant.com
Music for Anxiety and Panic Attacks: What Actually Helps, Acoustically
Most "anxiety music" playlists are curated by vibe and include songs that can escalate symptoms. This guide breaks down the acoustic propert…
Metal is some of the most predictable music you'll ever hear — and that's not an insult
Counterintuitive but measurable: heavy metal scores high on predictability and structural consistency. Here's why that makes it uniquely use…
Why this rating
We rate this song Moderate because it falls between our Safe and Intense thresholds on at least one dimension. Moderate is the default for most well-produced music that has real arc but no surprise elements. Full rubric: methodology.
This song in the Music Studio
33/100 intensity
See how “Poison & Wine” sits against your own sensitivities, or use it as a waypoint in a calmer set.
Listen on
Spotify and YouTube links go direct to the track when we have the ID; otherwise they search for it. Embed this sensory profile on your site →
Rating last reviewed: 2026-04-05. Reviewed by the Music I Want editorial team against the documented methodology.
Think this rating is wrong? Contact the editor — every message is read and ratings get revised.
By the numbers: how this song compares
Computed from this song’s place among the 19,209 songs we’ve measured.
Where it sits in 19,000 songs
On our 19k-song scale this lands in the middle band — more energetic than 22% of songs, calmer than the other 78%. Its intensity reading of 33/100 comes from a dynamic range of 8/10, smooth texture, no sudden shifts, and soft vocals. Relatively few songs occupy this exact corner of the spectrum.
What makes it unusual
What stands out most about this song is a slow, unhurried pace: more extreme on that axis than 96% of everything we've measured. At the far opposite end of the library sit the songs built on full chaos — sudden changes, huge quiet-to-loud swings, and relentless energy — the kind of track this one is the counterpoint to.
Feels almost identical to
Hotel California — The Eagles · 99%Trading Places — Usher · 97%Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology) — Marvin Gaye · 96%Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler) — Marvin Gaye · 95%
Closest matches by feel across all 19,209 measured songs — not by genre or artist, by how they actually move.
What it’s good for
Sleep7/10
Focus10/10
Workout2/10
Dinner8/10
Party / hype2/10
Scored from this song’s tempo, intensity, dynamics and texture — not crowd votes.
2011 in context
The 372 songs we’ve measured from 2011 average a dynamic range of 6.4/10. At 8/10, this track is louder and more dynamic than its year.
Mixes smoothly with
Hotel California — The EaglesBlack Is the Color of My True Love's Hair — Nina SimoneSince I Don't Have You — The Temptations
Within a few BPM and close in feel — they flow without a jarring transition.
The fingerprint
Intensity33
Dynamics78
Tempo17
Surprise0
Density0
Predictability50
Vocal force25
Trigger load0
The 8-dimension measurement behind every rating on this page.
Frequently asked about "Poison & Wine"
Quick answers pulled from the song's sensory analysis.
What is the BPM of "Poison & Wine" by The Civil Wars?
"Poison & Wine" by The Civil Wars has a tempo of 70 BPM (Adagio (slow)). At half-time that is 35 BPM, and at double-time 140 BPM.
What is the sensory intensity of "Poison & Wine" by The Civil Wars?
"Poison & Wine" by The Civil Wars rates as Moderate intensity. Dynamic range 8/10, none sudden changes, smooth texture. Moderate is the default for well-produced music with real arc but no surprise elements.
How loud is "Poison & Wine" — what is its dynamic range?
"Poison & Wine" has a dynamic range of 8/10. Substantial quiet-to-loud arc. Start at a volume well below your top-end; the climax will land harder than the intro suggests.
Does "Poison & Wine" have sudden or surprising changes?
No. "Poison & Wine" has no sudden unsignaled changes. Every transition is musically telegraphed.
What is "Poison & Wine" best for?
In our library "Poison & Wine" is recommended for: anxiety relief, meditation. These tags are assigned only where the song's sensory profile genuinely supports the use case.
When was "Poison & Wine" released?
"Poison & Wine" is from 2011, on the album "Barton Hollow". It appears in our 2010s catalog.
What is the emotional mood of "Poison & Wine"?
We tag "Poison & Wine" as contemplative, melancholy. Moods are tonal descriptors based on how the song reads emotionally — separate from the sensory intensity axes.
What is the vocal style of "Poison & Wine"?
The vocal style is soft vocals.
Is "Poison & Wine" good for running?
Not really — at 70 BPM it's below most running cadences. Better for warm-up, cool-down, or walking. Recreational runners typically step at 140-175 BPM.
Is "Poison & Wine" good for studying?
Only partially. The song's dynamic range (8/10) means there will be loud moments that break focus during deep work.
Can I use "Poison & Wine" for sleep?
Not recommended for sleep. Dynamic range is too high — quiet moments will be ambushed by louder ones.
Should I listen to "Poison & Wine"?
"Poison & Wine" is Moderate intensity — fine for most listeners, but with enough dynamic activity that it works best as active listening rather than background.
Songs with the same DNA
smooth texture, similar intensity — across any genre or era.
Safer alternatives with a similar feel
These songs share similar moods but with a gentler sensory profile.
What this song means to people
No stories yet. Be the first.
Share what this song means to you
Keep exploring
Where to next?
You know how this one feels — now go find the next one.