Mumford & Sons have released four studio albums: Sigh No More (2009), Babel (2012), Wilder Mind (2015), and Delta (2018). Sigh No More peaked at number two on the UK Albums Chart and the Billboard 200 in the US, with Babel and Wilder Mind both debuting at number one in the UK and US, the former becoming the fastest-selling rock album of the decade and leading to a headline performance at Glastonbury Festival in 2013. The band has also issued two live albums: Live at Shepherd's Bush Empire (2011) and The Road to Red Rocks (2012).
Mumford & Sons were formed in December 2007 by multi-instrumentalists Marcus Mumford, Ben Lovett, Winston Marshall and Ted Dwane. Band members play acoustic guitar, drums, keyboard instruments, bass guitar, and traditional folk instruments such as banjo, mandolin and resonator guitar. The band name originates from the fact that Marcus Mumford was the most visible member, organizing the band and their performances. Lovett indicated that the name was meant to invoke the sense of an "antiquated family business name".
A handful of similar bands were increasing their visibility in West London around the same time, giving rise to the label "West London folk scene". Mumford downplays that characterisation as an exaggeration—Mumford & Sons and a few other folk acts just happened to be operating in the same general area at the time. In an interview with the Herald Sun, Marcus Mumford said, "It's not folk really. Well, some of it is, and it's certainly not a scene. Someone got over-excited about a few bands who live in a hundred-mile radius and put it in a box to sell it as a package. It's a community, not a scene. It's not exclusive." Having developed in the same musical and cultural environment, Mumford & Sons' sound has been compared to that of artists such as Noah and the Whale, Johnny Flynn and Laura Marling, whose backing band had included Marshall, Mumford, and Dwane.
In early 2008 the band began working with manager Adam Tudhope, who, as part of management company Everybody's, also represents Keane and Laura Marling. It was through Tudhope's connection that Mumford & Sons were exposed to their future A&R at Island, Louis Bloom, who began monitoring the band. Bloom told HitQuarters that they were still at a fledgling state and not yet ready for a label deal: "There was no one there for it, just a few friends, and they needed time to develop. Over the next six months I kept going to see them and they were literally picking up fans every time."
In February 2008, the band completed an extensive UK tour with support from Alessi's Ark, Sons of Noel and Adrian, Peggy Sue and others. June 2008 marked the band's first appearance at the Glastonbury Festival. They also toured Australia with Laura Marling, whose disinclination to interact with audiences encouraged Mumford into the spotlight. The experience helped inform his attitude towards Mumford & Sons audiences, which is to interact frequently and to try to create a comfortable, casual atmosphere. Mumford & Sons' first project was an EP entitled Love Your Ground which took a year to complete and was released in November 2008 on Chess Club Records.
The band began by using bluegrass and folk instrumentation, with the core instruments of acoustic guitar, banjo, piano and a double bass, played with a rhythmic style based in alternative rock and folk. In the documentary Big Easy Express, Marcus Mumford recognizes the Old Crow Medicine Show influence: "I first heard Old Crow’s music when I was, like, 16, 17, and that really got me into, like, folk music, bluegrass. I mean, I’d listened to a lot of Dylan, but I hadn’t really ventured into the country world so much. So Old Crow were the band that made me fall in love with country music." Mumford acknowledges that "the band inspired them to pick up the banjo and start their now famous country nights in London." Ketch Secor, Old Crow front-man, concurs: "Those boys took the message and ran with it.
Much of Mumford & Sons' lyrical content has a strong literary influence, its debut album name deriving from William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. The track "Sigh No More" includes lines from the play such as Serve God love me and mend, For man is a giddy thing, and One foot in sea and one on shore. The title of the song "Roll Away Your Stone" is an allusion to Macbeth; the song includes the line Stars hide your fires/ And these here are my desires which borrows and pares down Macbeth's line in act 1, scene 4: Stars, hide your fires,/ Let not light see my black and deep desires. Additionally, "The Cave" includes several references to The Odyssey, in particular the sirens that Odysseus encounters on his journey home. The song also contains many references to G.K. Chesterton's book, St. Francis of Assisi, in which Chesterton uses Plato's Cave as a way of explaining how St. Francis views the world from God's perspective. "Little Lion Man" appears to be a retelling in dramatic monologue form of Chretien de Troyes' Yvain, the Knight of the Lion, which is the story of a knight who goes mad after betraying a promise to his wife to return to her. Both "Timshel" and "Dust Bowl Dance" draw heavily from the John Steinbeck novels Of Mice and Men, East of Eden and The Grapes of Wrath.
The band's change in sound on their third album was described by Lovett as a "natural departure." At the end of the Babel tour Winston Marshall traded his banjo for electric guitar in sound checks and Mumford started playing more drums as the band jammed on heavy instrumentals and even some Radiohead tunes. Banjo does not feature on the record, an instrument that had become synonymous with the band. NME reported that the band's sound is "More expansive than ever and decidedly heavier, thanks to the shift in instrumentation." The group also employed a full drumkit instead of kick drum. "We've had our standard line-up of instruments for the last six years and we felt like that was our palette, [but] we started picking up other stuff," said Lovett. "It's a very natural departure from some of that rootsier stuff."
Lovett told NME that working with James Ford for Wilder Mind was part of trying something new. "We felt a need for change. Not from Markus [Dravs], but he was so closely attached to those first two records that as we had taken that time off, we wanted to try doing something new. It felt like, if we do our third record with Markus, does that mean we do our ninth and 10th records with Markus? At some point you have to try different things, as we collectively felt like it was time to try other stuff. Markus knows that we might well make the next record with him. We definitely haven't broken up [with Dravs], we're just playing the field!".
The band have won a number of music awards throughout their career, with Sigh No More earning the band the Brit Award for Best British Album in 2011 and six overall Grammy Award nominations. The live performance at the 2011 Grammy ceremony with Bob Dylan and The Avett Brothers led to a surge in popularity for the band in the US. The band received eight total Grammy nominations for Babel and won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. The band also won the Brit Award for Best British Group in 2013.
After The Storm
Mumford & Sons Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I run and run as the rains come
And I look up, I look up,
On my knees and out of luck,
I look up.
Night has always pushed up day
You must know life to see decay
Not this mind and not this heart,
I won't rot.
And I took you by the hand
And we stood tall,
And remembered our own land,
What we lived for.
But there will come a time, you'll see, with no more tears.
And love will not break your heart, but dismiss your fears.
Get over your hill and see what you find there,
With grace in your heart and flowers in your hair.
And now I cling to what I knew
I saw exactly what was true
But oh no more.
That's why I hold,
That's why I hold with all I have.
That's why I hold.
I won't die alone and be left there.
Well I guess I'll just go home,
Oh God knows where.
Because death is just so full and man so small.
Well I'm scared of what's behind and what's before.
And there will come a time, you'll see, with no more tears.
And love will not break your heart, but dismiss your fears.
Get over your hill and see what you find there,
With grace in your heart and flowers in your hair.
And there will come a time, you'll see, with no more tears.
And love will not break your heart, but dismiss your fears.
Get over your hill and see what you find there,
With grace in your heart and flowers in your hair.
The song "After the Storm" by Mumford & Sons is a powerful, emotional song about hope and resilience in the face of adversity. The lyrics describe the aftermath of a storm, both literal and metaphorical, and the perseverance needed to move forward. The first verse talks about running in the rain, looking up and feeling hopeless. The second verse contrasts the bleakness of decay with the strength of the singer's mind and heart, refusing to give in to despair. The third verse speaks to the comfort and strength found in the love of another person, while the fourth verse acknowledges the fear and uncertainty that comes with facing the unknown. Ultimately, the chorus repeats the message of hope and renewal, that there will come a time with no more tears, and love will conquer fear.
The lyrics to "After the Storm" are open to interpretation, but many listeners have found them to be deeply personal and relatable. The song speaks to the challenges and hardships everyone faces in life, and the need to remain hopeful and optimistic in the face of adversity. The chorus in particular is a powerful statement of faith in the future, and a reminder that there is always hope, even in the darkest of times.
Line by Line Meaning
And after the storm,
In the aftermath of a turbulent situation,
I run and run as the rains come
I try to escape the consequences that follow,
And I look up, I look up,
I search for guidance and hope,
On my knees and out of luck,
Feeling helpless and defeated,
I look up.
Still seeking a way out of the darkness.
Night has always pushed up day
Darkness will always be followed by light,
You must know life to see decay
To understand life, you must also understand death,
But I won't rot, I won't rot
I will not let death or decay define me,
Not this mind and not this heart,
My thoughts and emotions will remain strong,
I won't rot.
I refuse to be defeated by life's challenges.
And I took you by the hand
I had someone to share my struggles with,
And we stood tall,
Together, we faced adversity with courage,
And remembered our own land,
We stayed true to our values and beliefs,
What we lived for.
We held onto the things that give our lives meaning.
But there will come a time, you'll see, with no more tears.
One day, our pain and suffering will cease,
And love will not break your heart, but dismiss your fears.
Love will conquer all,
Get over your hill and see what you find there,
Overcome your challenges and discover what awaits you,
With grace in your heart and flowers in your hair.
Approach life with kindness and appreciation for its beauty.
And now I cling to what I knew
I hold onto what I believed to be true,
I saw exactly what was true
I finally realized the reality of the situation,
But oh no more.
I am no longer held back by this awareness.
That's why I hold,
I cling to my convictions,
That's why I hold with all I have.
I firmly stand behind what I believe.
I won't die alone and be left there.
I will not let my fears or troubles consume me,
Well I guess I'll just go home, Oh God knows where.
I will move forward, even though I don't know what the future holds.
Because death is just so full and man so small.
Death is an overwhelming force that puts humanity into perspective.
Well I'm scared of what's behind and what's before.
I am afraid of what is yet to come and what I have left behind.
And there will come a time, you'll see, with no more tears.
A day will come when my sorrows will fade away.
And love will not break your heart, but dismiss your fears.
Love is a powerful force that overcomes fear.
Get over your hill and see what you find there,
Face your challenges with bravery and discover what lies ahead,
With grace in your heart and flowers in your hair.
With kindness and beauty in your heart.
And there will come a time, you'll see, with no more tears.
One day, my struggles will no longer weigh me down.
And love will not break your heart, but dismiss your fears.
Love will conquer all of my doubts and worries.
Get over your hill and see what you find there,
Overcome your obstacles and find the beauty that awaits you,
With grace in your heart and flowers in your hair.
Sprinkled with kindness and appreciation for life's beauty.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: MARCUS OLIVER JOHNSTONE MUMFORD, EDWARD JAMES MILTON DWANE, BENJAMIN WALTER DAVID LOVETT, WINSTON AUBREY ALADAR MARSHALL
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@paulasanlorenzo
And after the storm,
I run and run as the rains come
And I look up, I look up,
on my knees and out of luck,
I look up.
Night has always pushed up day
You must know life to see decay
But I won't rot, I won't rot
Not this mind and not this heart,
I won't rot.
And I took you by the hand
And we stood tall,
And remembered our own land,
What we lived for.
And there will come a time, you'll see, with no more tears.
And love will not break your heart, but dismiss your fears.
Get over your hill and see what you find there,
With grace in your heart and flowers in your hair.
And now I cling to what I knew
I saw exactly what was true
But oh no more.
That's why I hold,
That's why I hold with all I have.
That's why I hold.
I won't die alone and be left there.
Well I guess I'll just go home,
Oh God knows where.
Because death is just so full and man so small.
Well I'm scared of what's behind and what's before.
And there will come a time, you'll see, with no more tears.
And love will not break your heart, but dismiss your fears.
Get over your hill and see what you find there,
With grace in your heart and flowers in your hair.
@thetaaaa
This song is one of the reasons I'm alive today. This got me through two years of horrible, suffocating chronic depression. Thank you guys
@Mega2sh
Stay strong you beautiful person
@jaydpeckham7865
Glad to see you still kicking... I've been there and still battle it on a daily basis. Keep your chin up otherwise you'll miss all the cool things life has to offer... find your thing and don't let anyone take it from you!
@thetaaaa
@@jaydpeckham7865 Thank you, my friend. Life isn't easy, I doubt it ever will be - if it were easy then what would be the point? - but I am functioning now. I take my joy where I can find it, try to improve things when I can, and generally keep living, one day after the next. There is beauty in this world, and if you're willing to see them they can make all the other bullshit feel worthwhile
@jaydpeckham7865
@Theta Sigma spend as much time in the woods and trees as you can... just explore
@eternalrosa1
Same! ❤❤❤
@courtneywynne6753
I want this played at my funeral. It's absolutely beautiful.
@nicksiii
My friend had this song played at his funeral yesterday... it was beautiful
@v3rd4nt_sh4d0w
@@nicksiii I'm sorry.
@schaefer220
Same and I’ve said this for years