If you have known me for a while, you know that I am a huge music fan. I am not musically talented in any way, but I think music has the remarkable ability to lift spirits, touch souls, and calm nerves….not to mention bring back memories! (For example, matchbox twenty’s mad season album immediately takes me back to high school…remind me to tell you later the story about their song “Leave” and Andrew and I leaving the beach! Fun times.)
ANYWAY –
When I first heard Mumford and Sons, I immediately thought of my dad…he loves the banjo! (I would be curious to hear his take on their music, too…hmm.)
I became a fan of theirs after hearing “The Cave” – I would blare it in the minivan and sing my heart out (how cool am I??), but I didn’t buy their “Sigh No More” album until just a few weeks ago on iTunes.
Wow!
Their songs are beautifully cryptic, and when you listen to the words, you can see that they are talking about faith more often than not. I have Googled them several times to see what their songs mean, and I have found a few blogs discussing them. One had a post about “The Cave”, and someone posted a chapter of a biography on St. Francis of Assisi. I haven’t really found anything that is straight from the band telling the meaning of their songs, but after reading this excerpt, I am sure this is what this song is about!
Here are the lyrics to “The Cave”:
It’s empty in the valley of your heart
The sun, it rises slowly as you walk
Away from all the fears
And all the faults you’ve left behind
The harvest left no food for you to eat
You cannibal, you meat-eater, you see
But I have seen the same
I know the shame in your defeat
But I will hold on hope
And I won’t let you choke
On the noose around your neck
And I’ll find strength in pain
And I will change my ways
I’ll know my name as it’s called again
Cause I have other things to fill my time
You take what is yours and I’ll take mine
Now let me at the truth
Which will refresh my broken mind
So tie me to a post and block my ears
I can see widows and orphans through my tears
I know my call despite my faults
And despite my growing fears
But I will hold on hope
And I won’t let you choke
On the noose around your neck
And I’ll find strength in pain
And I will change my ways
I’ll know my name as it’s called again
So come out of your cave walking on your hands
And see the world hanging upside down
You can understand dependence
When you know the maker’s hand (*this is straight from the biography of St. Francis of Assisi!)
So make your siren’s call
And sing all you want
I will not hear what you have to say
Cause I need freedom now
And I need to know how
To live my life as it’s meant to be
And I will hold on hope
And I won’t let you choke
On the noose around your neck
And I’ll find strength in pain
And I will change my ways
I’ll know my name as it’s called again
In addition to this song, they have a song called “Roll Away Your Stone”, and here are some of those lyrics:
Roll away your stone, I’ll 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?
And yet it dominates the things I seek
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 the restart
And then there’s “Awake My Soul”:
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
These are only a few of their songs…the others have similar messages as well.
I also found videos of them singing “Amazing Grace” and “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” on Youtube…check them out if you get a chance.
Like I said, I don’t know for sure what they believe…but some of their lyrics have certainly resonated with me. I am a firm believer that a song doesn’t have to be “Christian” to be taken with a Christian message…in fact, our former church played secular songs often, and some were just as worshipful for me as the ones that presented the Gospel.
I think one of the commenters on one of the blog posts I found said it best:
“…recently listening to Mumfords words for the first time I found myself praying “Lord I wish I could form poetry for you with this type of skill”. It is obviously not up to us to decide the relationship between Marcus and God, but there is no doubt that there is a relationship, and it overflows into the lives of both believers and non, regardless of what that relationship may be.”
If nothing else, their songs have proven to me yet again how powerful music can be. Oh, to be that gifted in writing and performing!
*Disclaimer – the song that often plays on the radio, “Little Lion Man”, curses…it’s the only one I’ve heard with bad language. Just an FYI in case you want to check them out while kids are around. 🙂
laurenstoddard 