Dear Wormwood

## Chronology

*The Oh Hellos' Family Christmas Album*

***Dear Wormwood***

*Notos*

***Dear Wormwood*** is the second album by indie folk rock band The Oh Hellos. It was released on both Bandcamp and Spotify on October 16, 2015. It was written, produced, and performed primarily by siblings Tyler and Maggie Heath, with the exception of "Danse Macabre", which was composed by Camille Saint-Saëns in 1874. The mixing and mastering was done by Charlie Kramsky, with extra vocals being recorded by members of the ensemble that tours with the duo, including Matthew Hagerman and Joey Chance. It was later released both as a CD and a 12-inch vinyl record.

## Background

The album takes its title from The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis, which has every chapter of the book begin with the words "Dear Wormwood,". It draws further inspiration from the book by framing each song as a letter from someone in an abusive or unhealthy relationship to their abuser, reversing how the book was composed of letters trying to teach one demon how to lead a particular human astray. The songs vary in tone from lovingly addressed to determined to escape the relationship, with ebbs and flows in between as the narrator move themselves out of that relationship. It also draws inspiration from The Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss, with the descriptions of literature, language, and music being an influence on the way the album was written.

Tyler and Maggie describe *Dear Wormwood* as a continuation of the story from their first full-length album, *Through the Deep, Dark Valley.* While their previous album consisted of more disparate tracks that followed a loose narrative, *Dear Wormwood* was penned as a deliberate concept album where Tyler and Maggie honed their songwriting to be more focused on a central through line and story. Despite these differences, the albums are still connected in following the same narrator and their journey throughout the series. While *Through the Deep, Dark Valley* focused on the rebellion of the narrator as well as the realizations and regrets they contemplate from that emotional place, *Dear Wormwood* focuses on those actions and dilemmas moving forward through the lens of the relationship talked about through each of the tracks. While the group started writing the album in the fall of 2014, their writing began to intensify moving into January 2015 as they leaned into the concept album approach after writing songs like the title track. From there, they began to record in March of that year and continued to write and record for the following five months.

## Reception and Response

*Dear Wormwood* was officially released on both Bandcamp and other streaming platforms on October 16, 2015. Two weeks after its release, *Dear Wormwood* peaked at #134 on the Billboard 200 Chart and stayed there for a full week thereafter. Soon after, they released the album on both CD and a 12-inch vinyl record, and the following year, they reprinted it on vinyl as well as released the rest of their catalog on vinyl records. Across all thirteen tracks, *Dear Wormwood* has just under 200 million plays on Spotify as of December 2022, with "Soldier, Poet, King" accounting for the bulk of these plays at over 111 million. Songs such as the title track ("Dear Wormwood") and "Bitter Water" additionally have over 28.1 million plays and 13.6 million plays respectively.

"Soldier, Poet, King" received minor attention in the animation community when animator Gothfrog created a short animation set to the main lyrics of the song. The lyrics tell of a trio of individuals and their defining traits; a soldier ("Who carries a mighty sword / He will tear your city down"), a poet ("Whose weapon is his word / he will slay you with his tongue") and a king or ruler ("Whose brow is laid in thorn / Smeared in oil like David's boy"). The animation depicts the introduction of three characters who represent these three archetypes marching to the beat of the song. They are not exactly these things, but represent them spiritually in some manner. Following Gothfrog's posting of the video, many other animators have taken to making similar videos using their own style and characters to fit to the song.[*citation needed*] These videos are usually made whenever the user reaches a certain number of subscribers. Additionally, the track has gained prominence in videos made by members of the cottagecore community on TikTok.[*citation needed*]

## Gallery

Vinyl coverTracklistInner gatefold"Beer and Bone" vinylSide ASide B
## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Dear Wormwood. (2016, October 16) The Oh Hellos. https://music.theohhellos.com/album/dear-wormwood
2. ↑ Grey, Stephanie (2016, September 28). "The Oh Hellos on C.S. Lewis, Christian Art and Learning to Trust the Music Industry". Westword. https://www.westword.com/music/the-oh-hellos-on-cs-lewis-christian-art-and-learning-to-trust-the-music-industry-8335857
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Times, Music (2015-10-15). "The Oh Hellos Bring C.S. Lewis Inspirations to Rich New Album 'Dear Wormwood': Interview". Music Times. https://www.musictimes.com/articles/51006/20151015/oh-hellos-interview-dear-wormwood-cs-lewis-new-album.html
4. ↑ Billboard 200 Chart. (2015, November 7) *Billboard.* https://www.billboard.com/charts/billboard-200/2015-11-07
5. ↑ The Oh Hellos. (2015, December 29) “Dear Wormwood VINYL will officially be available 1/8!” Twitter. https://twitter.com/theohhellos/status/681976875418169344
6. ↑ The Oh Hellos. (2016, December 7) “Our ENTIRE CATALOG is now on #vinyl! Available through our website, @Bandcamp, and merch tables on tour!. Twitter. https://twitter.com/theohhellos/status/806567576474001408
7. ↑ Dear Wormwood. The Oh Hellos. https://open.spotify.com/album/1cPLA174FRXDxaU1yQtOGQ?si=7as5hYuURaOIpivdwECpLw&dl\_branch=1
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 "Soldier, Poet, King | Original Animation Meme". (2018, December 18) Gothfrog. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pjw3u9AZE1E