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.
Nothing is Written
Mumford & Sons Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Like a stone
And I fell heavy into your arms
These days of dust
Which we've known
Will blow away with this new sun
And I'll kneel down
And I'll kneel down
Wait for now
So break my step
And relent
You forgave and I won't forget
Know what we've seen
And him with less
Now in some way
Shake the excess
And I'll kneel down
Wait for now
And I'll kneel down
Know my ground
Now I'll be bold
As well as strong
Use my head alongside my heart
So take my flesh
And fix my eyes
That tethered mind free from the lies
And I'll kneel down
Wait for now
And I'll kneel down
Know my ground
And I'll kneel down
Wait for now
Raise my hands
Paint my spirit gold
And bow my head
Keep my heart slow
And raise my hands
Paint my spirit gold
And bow my head
Keep my heart slow
In this song, Mumford & Sons talk about the moving and transformative power of love. The first stanza suggests that the persona has been away from home amidst the uncertainties and turbulence of life. But when they return home, they found solace in the arms of their beloved. The stanza also suggests that the struggles of life are momentary and will vanish with the advent of new beginnings - hence, the phrase 'blow away with this new sun.' The next stanza critiques the individualistic approach to life, which suggests that forgiveness and love are critical for relational progress. Furthermore, holding on to past hurts renders us unable to experience growth and happiness.
The third stanza shows that the persona is willing to be vulnerable and commit to love completely. The window of vulnerability is depicted rather beautifully through the metaphor of 'take my flesh and fix my eyes...that tethered mind free from the lies.' The fourth and fifth stanzas reiterate the desire to give one's all in love, to be bold and use both the head and heart to maintain relationships. Ultimately, the persona concludes with the desire to raise their hands, paint their spirit gold, and keep their heart slow - an antithesis that suggests humility, purity, and tranquility.
Line by Line Meaning
I came home
I returned home after a long day
Like a stone
I was exhausted and moved slowly
And I fell heavy into your arms
I sought comfort and support from my loved one
These days of dust
We've been through tough times
Which we've known
We've experienced them before
Will blow away with this new sun
A fresh start and renewal awaits us
And I'll kneel down
I will humble myself
Wait for now
I will wait and be patient
So break my step
Interrupt my routine
And relent
Give me a break
You forgave and I won't forget
I am grateful for your forgiveness and won't take it for granted
Know what we've seen
We have experienced things together
And him with less
We've seen people in worse situations
Now in some way
This realization should inspire us
Shake the excess
Let go of anything unnecessary
Know my ground
I will be more self-aware
Now I'll be bold
I will be brave
As well as strong
Not only physically, but mentally strong
Use my head alongside my heart
I will make thoughtful decisions while also considering my emotions
So take my flesh
Use me as you please
And fix my eyes
Help me focus on what is important
That tethered mind free from the lies
I want to release myself from self-doubt and negative thinking
Raise my hands
Celebrate and praise life
Paint my spirit gold
Make my soul happy and free
And bow my head
In humility and gratitude
Keep my heart slow
Stay calm and present
Contributed by Hannah K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Alex Hevol
10 Years later and it's still the best rendition of I will wait.
Lian Ian
@Chris Bronson Try Flixzone. You can find it by googling :)
Chris Bronson
i know it's kinda randomly asking but does anyone know of a good place to watch newly released movies online ?
Hilde der weinerliche Nasenaffe
100% agree
Damian Sowinski
These lyrics always move me...
There's a sadness to them; a longing for an ideal of patience that's hard to actually live up to. Yet there's hope there. Over time patience becomes nourishing, a beacon that bathes the spirit in warmth.
I don't know... I guess that's the beauty in song... words coupled to music, begging for meaning, and every mind hearing the same thing through a new facet of interpretation.
Either way...
Hope you like it too.
caseyjobob H
Sadness be power materials but mate, fashion yourself a boat with the material provided!
Sidhaant Verma
Well said!
Simeon Tashev
@Damian Sowinski beautifly said, mate! Cheers!
madguitar1086
This is what SHOULD have been on the album.
Joanna Engelbrecht
All Mumford's stuff is amazing, I found this long ago but still like the new version on Babel. Don't think this band could write/perform or sing anything less than AMAZING! love Mumford!!!!