Mumford & Sons Are Wretched Men - And So Are You

If yesterday's blog and this one aren't enough to make you realize it, I'll spell it out for you: I really like Mumford & Sons. Sure, their music sounds like a (not so) distant cousin to The Avett Brothers and Noah and the Whale; and their full-length Sigh No More isn't perfect. A lot of the songs border on being redundant: an acoustic beginning, then kicking in after the first chorus with a driving bass drum. The redundancy with this is pretty minor, in my opinion, and doesn't stop me from listening to the album (ahem...basically non-stop). So, what is it about this band that's so tantalizing?

The band's biography on their website begins, "Since they formed in December 2007, the members of Mumford & Sons have shared a common purpose: to make music that matters, without taking themselves too seriously." A lot of bands make promises and goals similar to these, but they don't always have the substance to back them up. I think it's interesting that they use the phrase "music that matters." This is a bit of a subjective claim, since people's opinions about music and what "matters" are as numerous as the number of people who hold them. In the interest of clarity and space-saving, you can read my opinions I hold and under which I'll be operating for this blog right here.

What struck me when I first listened to Mumford & Sons was their brazenness in talking about matters of God and guilt – in areas where Contemporary Christian Music is often silent! Just look at a couple of these lyrics:

"Can you stand before the king and say, 'I'm clean, I'm clean'?"

"Awake my soul, awake my soul. You were made to meet your maker."

"There will come a time I will look you in the eye; you'll pray to the God that you've always denied."

"Love, it will not betray, dismay, or enslave you; it will set you free."

Of course the last two lyrics especially can be adapted to any sort of deism or moralism. But there is still much that can be gleaned from this music. If this Biblical imagery wasn't blatant enough, listen to an early demo of theirs. I came across this accidentally yesterday, and I was greatly surprised at the lyrics – especially in the first verse:
Wretched Man

Sound familiar? This is a clearly, unambiguously Biblical allusion. The lead singer, Marcus Mumford, is apparently the son of John Mumford, who is in charge of Vineyard Churches, a branch of churches in the UK. (Fun fact: Marcus also seems to have a tattoo of the word χαρις, the Greek word for "grace.") What I'm not saying is that the band is made up of all Christians; he's explained that they all have different views on faith. However, what I am saying is that he does confirm that they do write through the lens of "faith," and several of the songs seem to show that things he grew up learning still frequent his mind. The topics present in much of the songs can be a great springboard for discussions with both Christians and non-Christians.

There is much that can be gleaned from this music by the Christian. Relevant has a great article entitled "When the Secular is Sacred" about the band. The article brings up what is sadly very true: that "most of the songs we sing—out of the hymn book or the WOW worship mix—don’t address a lot of the feelings we inevitably come across in our relationship with God." Mumford & Sons do not avoid what "Christian artists" do and shouldn't avoid: Actual feelings, questions, and guilt.

Too much of music that is heralded as "Christian" paints life as a happy journey with occasional pseudo-problems that can easily be eradicated with Instant Jesus Spray and vague, moralistic deity called "God." CCM can learn much from the example of Mumford & Sons. It's not a secret – nor is it surprising – that the CCM scene is pretty corrupt these days (Did you know that Katy Perry started as Christian artist Katy Hudson?). Still, it's deeply saddening that some "secular" bands get closer to biblical truths than their more generic, less talented "Christian" counterparts.

Christians are defined by the Gospel – the "good news" – and before it is ever "good news," it is "bad news": We are guilty, and guilt is not simply swept under the rug. We, who are prone to arrogance, need more reminders of this – especially in the modern church culture in America. We all need reminders that one day we, as wretched men, will stand before the king and will be far from clean if not for Christ's atonement. And while I'm not saying that we should replace our hymnals with Mumford & Sons songbooks, there is much worship that can be done listening to this music. This is a band who aspires to make "music that matters" and succeeds.