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Just love these guys. Donning the indie-folk style, Mumford & Sons have definitely taken the world by storm, with mandolin and bass-string in tow. Today we take a look at the lead single from their hit album Babel – I Will Wait.
It instantly topped the charts, becoming their all-time best seller. However it’s not been a total bed of roses for these fellas, having received their fair share of slamming by critics: overly pretentious, pop-pretending-to be-folk etc. etc. But whether you're for them or against, you can’t deny they certainly know how to captivate the crowd and Winston absolutely rocks it out on the banjo; so much so, I’m surprised strings are still attached at the end of a concert.
Now, there has also been a lot of discussion over the religious overtones of Mumford & Son’s music. Some have been adamant about the lyrics being deeply religiously symbolic, others not.
Marcus (lead singer and guitarist) himself told MTV that the song I will wait "reflects the band's hectic life on the road—which shaped the new album's sound."
Interpret this song how you will; I see it like this:
He loves someone. He realises his own mistakes, he has confronted and acknowledged his own sinful self and he’s sorry. He is kneeling down before his love in humility, asking for forgiveness, saying “I will wait for you.”
Religious or not, accepting your weaknesses and folly, being sorry for it and getting down on your knees in humility before the other, asking to be pardoned – you don’t get much more Catholic than that folks! Not that humility itself is reserved for Catholics, but rather, humility is a fundamental prerequisite for leading a truly Catholic life, i.e. it comes with the territory.
And Mumford & Sons, whether intending to or not, with guitars, banjo, string-bass and keyboard, lead us to that profoundly beautiful memory of stepping onto the road of humility and the light that cascades over our very being as a consequence.
At minute 2.16 they boost that “I will wait, I will wait for you” chorus up an octave and the breathtaking memory explodes before our eyes. It sends us into a moment of bliss before pulling the reigns up into the next contemplative moment: “And use my head alongside my heart… A tethered mind freed from the lies….I will kneel down” ….then at full speed they ride that upper octave wave all the way in, with the audience on their backs, strings going wild, waiting for love till the end. AWESOME.
