Guitarist and songwriter Patterson Hood describes Decoration Day as being lyrically a "pretty dark" record,[1] though he notes that the band "had so much fun making it, and I think that kind of comes through".

The title track, written by guitarist Jason Isbell, tells "a story that's rumored to be true" of two families involved in a passionate intergenerational feud which has gone on so long that few can remember why such hatred exists between them.

Isbell's "Outfit" describes the advice given to him by his own father, advising him, among other things, to have fun but to avoid intravenous drugs, to call home for his sister's birthday, not to sing in a "fake British accent" or to make The Beatles' faux pas and claim to be "bigger than Jesus".

Furthering the focus on interfamilial relations – albeit in a much different way – is Hood's "The Deeper In", which tells the story of the only two people in the United States to be serving prison time for consensual brother/sister incest.

The album garnered excellent reviews from critics like Robert Christgau of The Village Voice as well as publications such as SPIN Magazine, Pitchfork Media[10] and Rolling Stone.