My last post (which was a while ago, I apologize) featured a video by the young British band Mumford & Sons. I had seen the video (a performance of their song "Roll Away Your Stone") only once, but felt the need to share it with anybody who cared; their bluegrass melodies and pained, spiritual lyrics absolutely blew me away.
After I posted the video, I followed up on the band by tracking down two of their EPs - "Mumford & Sons" and "Love Your Ground" - and was stunned by the results. Mumford & Sons are legitimately on pace with some of the best American, modern-day bluegrass acts (yes, the British are once again beating America at their own musical game.) They combine everything you love in bluegrass - four-part harmonies, banjo, mandolin, spirituality - with singer Marcus Mumford's Dave Matthews-like yelp (I say that in a good way, don't fret all you DMB haters) and create something that has been compared to everything from The Avett Brothers to Coldplay.
As I listened to them over and over again, I was struck by how impassioned Mumford's lyrics were, lyrics that he's apparently delivering to God (sorry, but nobody who sings, "It seems that all my bridges have been burned/But you say 'That's exactly how this grace thing works'," is singing to his girlfriend.) Each song presents Mumford's hesitance at giving all of himself to his God, even though he knows it's what he needs to do. His attempts at compromising his love for God and his love for this world are achingly human, and are realized in these beautiful songs.
Below I've posted videos and lyrics of my four favorite Mumford & Sons songs; watch them, hear them, and read their spiritual journeys. It's really extraordinary.
"White Blank Page"
Can you lie next to her
And give her your heart, your heart
As well as your body
And can you lie next to her
And confess your love, your love
As well as your folly
And can you kneel before the king
And say I’m clean, I’m clean
But tell me now, where was my fault
In loving you with my whole heart
Oh tell me now, where was my fault
In loving you with my whole heart
A white blank page and a swelling rage, rage
You did not think when you sent me to the grave, the grave
You desired my attention but denied my affections, my affections
But tell me now, where was my fault
In loving you with my whole heart
Oh tell me now, where was my fault
In loving you with my whole heart
Lead me to the truth and I will follow you with my whole life
Lead me to the truth and I will follow you with my whole life
"Awake My Soul"
How fickle my heart and how woozy my eyes
I struggle to find any truth in your lies
And now my heart stumbles on things I don't know
This weakness I feel I must finally show
Lend me your hand and we'll conquer them all
But lend me your heart and I'll just let you fall
Lend me your eyes I can change what you see
But your soul you must keep, totally free
In these bodies we will live, in these bodies we will die
Where you invest your love, you invest your life
In these bodies we will live, in these bodies we will die
Where you invest your love, you invest your life
Awake my soul, awake my soul
Awake my soul
You were made to meet your maker
Awake my soul, awake my soul
Awake my soul
You were made to meet your maker
You were made to meet your maker
"Hold On to What You Believe"
I can’t promise you that I won’t let you down
And I
I can’t promise you that I will be the only one around
When your hope falls down
But we’re young
Open flowers in the windy fields of this war-torn world
And love
This city breathes the plague of loving things more than their creators
I ran away
I could not take the burden of both me and you
It was too fast
Casting love on me as if it were a spell I could not break
When it was a promise I could not make
But what if I was wrong?
But hold on to what you believe in the light
When the darkness has robbed you of all your sight
And now this land
Means less and less to me without you breathing through its trees
At every turn
The water runs away from me and the halo disappears
And the hole when you’re not near
So what if I was wrong?
But hold on to what you believe in the light
When the darkness has robbed you of all your sight
So hold on to what you believed in the light
"Roll Away Your Stone"
Roll away your stone I will roll away mine
Together we can see what we will find
Don't leave me alone at this time
For I am afraid of what I will discover inside
You told me that I would find a hole
Within the fragile substance of my soul
And I have filled this void with things unreal
And all the while my character it steals
Darkness is a harsh term don't you think
Yet it dominates the things I see
It seems that all my bridges have been burned
But you say 'That's exactly how this grace thing works’
It's not the long walk home that will change this heart
But the welcome I receive with every start
Darkness is a harsh term don't you think
And yet it dominates the things I see
Darkness is a harsh term don't you think
And yet it dominates the things I see
Stars hide your fires
For these here are my desires
And I won't give them up to you this time around
And so I will be found
With my stake stuck in the ground
Marking the territory of this newly impassioned soul
And you, you've gone too far this time
You have neither reason nor rhyme
With which to take this soul that is so rightfully mine
