Off to see Mumford and Sons tonight so thought I’d reprise an earlier post that I wrote on their music. Really looking forward to seeing them live tonight (but can’t share my excitement with Betty because she’s too jealous – I don’t think a t-shirt will be enough to repay her kindness). Don’t forget to enjoy the video below.
Oh my, what stunningly great music – lyrically and musically, deeply visceral and full of heart all at once. There’s a psalmic quality to much of their music – lamenting what is, yearning for more, angry, repentant, rejoicing, hopeful. It’s music by which to raise a pint or lift a prayer.
One of my benchmarks for great music is its capacity to coax me out of my small little self, to make me feel fully aflame, caught in a moment forgetful of self and unconcerned with what others might think. The music of Mumford and Sons does that for me again and again – I get lost in the power of the music – I want to jump and dance, kneel and weep, pray or just yell out “thank you”!
Just consider this sampling of their lyrics:
- “Love that will not betray you, dismay or enslave you, it will set you free.”
- “If only I had an enemy bigger than my apathy, I could have won.”
- “Where you invest your love, you invest your life.”
- “It’s not the long walk home that will change this heart but the welcome I receive with a restart.”
But those words, in text alone, seem tame; you’ve got to enter the power of the music with the beauty of the lyrics, producing at once a rich, melodic quiet space and then next a pulsing, pounding, rhythmic, breathless romp (I love how the tempo changes dare you not to dance).
Check out this video of the Mumford and Sons song “Sigh no more.”
<p><a href=”http://vimeo.com/19327177″>Mumford & Sons – Sigh No More : {el.de.te}</a> from <a href=”http://vimeo.com/eldete”>el.de.te productions</a> on <a href=”http://vimeo.com”>Vimeo</a>.</p>
Squinch 