Their self-titled album was chosen as one of Amazon.com's Top 100 Editor's Picks of 2005. In the Future was a finalist for the 2008 Polaris Music Prize and was also nominated for "Best Alternative Album" in the 2009 Juno Awards. The song "Stay Free" from In the Future was featured on the Spider-Man 3 soundtrack.
In 2005 the band opened for Coldplay on their Twisted Logic Tour for three weeks, with their final opening in San Diego.
In September 2010 Black Mountain performed in an amphitheater located in the woods of Oisterwijk at the Incubate (festival) in Tilburg, Netherlands.
Leader Stephen McBean also heads another similarly named band, Pink Mountaintops, who are the more experimental side of McBean's musical abilities. Black Mountain is the front line band for Black Mountain Army, a collective of musicians, artists and friends in Vancouver. In an interview the band said "Black Mountain is just the five of us. The Black Mountain Army… which has kind of gotten blown out of proportion, it was kind of just a joke, because everybody thought we were this hippie collective, like we all lived in one house. But it’s basically just our friends at home in Vancouver, just our extended family of creative people that we know."
Several members of the band have, for as long as a decade, worked for organizations that meet the basic living requirements of the chronically poor, drug addicted and mentally ill in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside neighborhood, such as Insite. In an interview, the band said: "After work we all try not to think too hard about the effect it has on our lives. It keeps us grounded."
Wilderness Heart was named as a longlisted nominee for the 2011 Polaris Music Prize.
March 11, 2014 The Black Mountain song "Wucan" was featured on season 2 of the FOX drama "The Following" during the eighth episode entitled "Messenger".
The Black Mountain song "Druganaut" is featured in a June, 2014 Father's Day commercial for J.C. Penney.
Let Spirits Ride
Black Mountain Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Towards the flame the once burned through us all.
The rudimentary force of life is shining in your eyes awaiting call.
Carry onwards child and lead me to the womb.
Reborn in nature's arms our freedom will exhume.
Terminate me, melt me with the sky and earthly soil.
A sacrifice into the light in unison resist forever more.
Controlled anatomy has risen from the grave.
Let spirits ride
Descend to the waves, electric tides cast upon your shores.
The rudimentary force of life is shining out the gates of heaven's door.
Carry onwards child upon your stainless wings.
Holy caravan we ride the spirit wind.
Let spirits ride.
Return to the realm.
Towards the flame the once burned through us all.
The rudimentary force of life is shining in your eyes awaiting call.
Carry onwards child and lead me to the womb.
Reborn in nature's arms our freedom will exhume
Let spirits ride.
The lyrics to Black Mountain's Let Spirits Ride evoke a powerful sense of spiritual and elemental imagery, urging the listener to embrace their connection with nature and the cosmos. The verses are full of references to flames, light, earth, and the rebirth of ancient ways, culminating in a call to "let spirits ride" and ascend to heavenly gates on "stainless wings." The song seems to be a celebration of the raw, primal essence of life, urging the listener to shed their "controlled anatomy" and embrace the "rudimentary force" that unites all living things.
The repeated refrain of "return to the realm" serves as a kind of mantra throughout the song, inviting the listener to journey back to a primeval state of being where they can tap into the wellspring of energy that drives all life. The verse about being "reborn in nature's arms" particularly resonates, suggesting that only by surrendering to the natural world can we truly find peace and fulfillment. The final line, "let spirits ride," becomes a kind of rallying cry for the listener, urging them to cast off their mundane concerns and embrace a wilder, more mystical path.
Overall, Let Spirits Ride is a powerful invocation of the energy and spirit that courses through all living things. The song urges the listener to embrace their connection to nature and the cosmos, and to let their spirits soar on the wings of the divine.
Line by Line Meaning
Return to the realm.
Come back to the place where spirits originate.
Towards the flame the once burned through us all.
Move closer to the passion that used to unite us all.
The rudimentary force of life is shining in your eyes awaiting call.
The fundamental energy of existence glows in your eyes, ready to be summoned.
Carry onwards child and lead me to the womb.
Keep going and guide me to the source of life.
Reborn in nature's arms our freedom will exhume.
Renewed by nature's embrace, we'll rediscover our liberty.
Terminate me, melt me with the sky and earthly soil.
End me, blend me with the atmosphere and terrestrial matter.
A sacrifice into the light in unison resist forever more.
A selfless offering to the illumination, opposing together for eternity.
Controlled anatomy has risen from the grave.
A body governed by someone else has emerged from the dead.
Delivered ancient way's reborn in mother's flames.
Ancient wisdom is revived by the fire of the matriarch.
Let spirits ride
Allow spirits to soar freely.
Descend to the waves, electric tides cast upon your shores.
Descend to the ocean, feeling the surge of dynamic energy washing over you.
The rudimentary force of life is shining out the gates of heaven's door.
The fundamental force of existence shines from the doorway to paradise.
Carry onwards child upon your stainless wings.
Keep moving ahead, propelled by your pure wings.
Holy caravan we ride the spirit wind.
A sacred group of souls riding the wind of spirituality.
Let spirits ride.
Allow spirits to keep soaring.
Return to the realm.
Come back to the place where spirits originate.
Towards the flame the once burned through us all.
Move closer to the passion that used to unite us all.
The rudimentary force of life is shining in your eyes awaiting call.
The fundamental energy of existence glows in your eyes, ready to be summoned.
Carry onwards child and lead me to the womb.
Keep going and guide me to the source of life.
Reborn in nature's arms our freedom will exhume
Renewed by nature's embrace, we'll rediscover our liberty.
Let spirits ride.
Allow spirits to keep soaring.
Contributed by Alexandra O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.