Wye Oak wrote what became Civilian between December 2009 and July 2010. As lyricist/guitarist Jenn Wasner describes,
[The songs] are about aloneness (the positive kind), loneliness (the horrible kind), moving on, and letting go (of people, places, and things).
Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack talked at length about the album and its songs during a Life of the Record episode.