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Kedvesem · 06-10-2016, 07:15 AM

I am beginning to think my Sir is purposely doing this so that I will post things in this journal!

Tonight we listened to two Mumford and Sons albums:

Sigh No More

and

Babel

These two albums are two of my favourite albums in existence. They rate an L on the LPUC scale, without question. If they never made another album, for the sake of these two, I would always love them. In fact, their Wilder Mind album I don't even like. But yet I love Mumford and Sons because of these two albums.

Now, for why.

In one of the tracks on Sigh No More (itself a reference to a line from Much Ado About Nothing, which for a Shakespeare buff like me would be enough to draw my ear), there are two lines which go:

"In these bodies we will live; in these bodies we will die.
Where you invest your love, you invest your life."

Those two lines encapsulate the message of both these albums, and yes, there is indeed a message. It is one of the things I find most arresting about these albums, about the band itself, even.

It is as though Marcus Mumford is standing there saying, "This is my ass. This is a hole in the ground. They are not the same." He is making this statement very clearly and unequivocally.

Now, I am a sucker for an unequivocal statement. I love Rush and their A Farewell to Kings and Hemispheres, and that despite the fact I find them terminally naive. They are making a statement and throwing all their philosophical weight behind it.

Mumford and Sons do the same thing. They have a clearly defined worldview, and they are not shy about putting it into their music. Add to this manly courage (I swoon over manliness.), a haunting Celtic cry, as in "White Blank Page" or a mournful violin and a pulsing banjo as in "Lover of the Light", and you have a recipe for the most perfectly appointed band for my ears.

Let me put it another way. I have been to fewer concerts than I have fingers. Rare is the time when I have actually been to see an artist live. For Mumford and Sons, I was willing to take time off work and travel just to see them. (As it happened, they ended up having a closer concert than Fuji Rock, but I was going to go to Fuji Rock just for them.)

There are other albums I love as much as these, but none I love more. A coherent philosophy, eloquently expounded, with Celtic wails and a sincerity that makes even Johnny Cash sound artificial?

Yes. Oh very yes.

06-10-2016, 07:15 AM	#12 (permalink)
Kedvesem I like what I like Join Date: Oct 2014 Posts: 303	I am beginning to think my Sir is purposely doing this so that I will post things in this journal! Tonight we listened to two Mumford and Sons albums: Sigh No More and Babel These two albums are two of my favourite albums in existence. They rate an L on the LPUC scale, without question. If they never made another album, for the sake of these two, I would always love them. In fact, their Wilder Mind album I don't even like. But yet I love Mumford and Sons because of these two albums. Now, for why. In one of the tracks on Sigh No More (itself a reference to a line from Much Ado About Nothing, which for a Shakespeare buff like me would be enough to draw my ear), there are two lines which go: "In these bodies we will live; in these bodies we will die. Where you invest your love, you invest your life." Those two lines encapsulate the message of both these albums, and yes, there is indeed a message. It is one of the things I find most arresting about these albums, about the band itself, even. It is as though Marcus Mumford is standing there saying, "This is my ass. This is a hole in the ground. They are not the same." He is making this statement very clearly and unequivocally. Now, I am a sucker for an unequivocal statement. I love Rush and their A Farewell to Kings and Hemispheres, and that despite the fact I find them terminally naive. They are making a statement and throwing all their philosophical weight behind it. Mumford and Sons do the same thing. They have a clearly defined worldview, and they are not shy about putting it into their music. Add to this manly courage (I swoon over manliness.), a haunting Celtic cry, as in "White Blank Page" or a mournful violin and a pulsing banjo as in "Lover of the Light", and you have a recipe for the most perfectly appointed band for my ears. Let me put it another way. I have been to fewer concerts than I have fingers. Rare is the time when I have actually been to see an artist live. For Mumford and Sons, I was willing to take time off work and travel just to see them. (As it happened, they ended up having a closer concert than Fuji Rock, but I was going to go to Fuji Rock just for them.) There are other albums I love as much as these, but none I love more. A coherent philosophy, eloquently expounded, with Celtic wails and a sincerity that makes even Johnny Cash sound artificial? Yes. Oh very yes.