The Animal Years is the fourth album by Josh Ritter, released on April 19, 2006.Before performing Girl in the War at the 2006 annual dinner of the Center for American Progress in Washington D.C., Ritter stated that he intended to “to write about [the United States of America], but [instead] it all came out sounding like a love song."The Animal Years was reissued on February 15, 2011 as a two-disc Deluxe Edition.