Mumford & Sons – I Will Wait

• +7
  My Opinion:I'll get to the point, I promise.
  
  The Tower of Babel was built by a people who wanted to reach God. It was a meager attempt, and quite insulting to God, who ended up confusing their language. See, there used to be one language in the whole world, but God created many at this moment so that the tower could not be built. It also caused this nation to divide—just a consequence of their prideful yet meaningless pursuit of building a tower so high that it would reach the heavens. You can find this story in Genesis 11:1-9
  
  Now here is why I think this album is called "Babel."
  
  Religion is man’s pursuit to reach God through our trivial human actions and rituals. It's a waste of time because we're human—imperfect and small—and God is simply God. I think lead singer Marcus Mumford completely understands this, and has seen the hypocrisy of religion and the way it has torn the world apart, much like the Tower of Babel tore the early world apart ("'...and this is only the beginning of what they will do'" Genesis 11:6.)
  
  Many of Mumford's lyrics allude to this theme of the hypocrisy and frivolity of religion, and the way it hurts people. I believe you can even hear this in the first verse of "I Will Wait.” Stones are hard, but they are also broken and smoothed over. Religion does the same thing to us. It hardens our hearts toward God, breaks us down, and corrodes our spirit and our character because we give into this lie that God is harsh and demanding, and only willing to know us if we offer religious sacrifices. God’s arms are actually open. He just wants our heart.
  
  Seems to me that Marcus either was or is tired of the whole religion thing. It left him worn and bitter. The truth about salvation is that we cannot get it for ourselves. Here is the major point: we don’t reach God, God reaches us. We’re not powerful enough, which is why we needed a savior.
  
  We wait on God to capture us in the right moment of our lives. We’ll die of exhaustion if we try to reach God with our actions.
  
  “You forgave and I won’t forget”
  Jesus forgave us which is why we have freedom and why we only need to believe.
  
  “Shake the excess”
  Shake the guilt. Jesus forgave everything, so we never need to be guilty.
  
  “So take my flesh and fix my eyes”
  Galatians 5:16
  2 Corinthians 4:18
  
  “That tethered mind free from the lies”
  Lies that we’re not good enough.
  
  “Keep my heart slow”
  Not be hasty in giving into what the world has to offer.
  
  I will wait for God to come through.

  Flagged JuliaWiersumon September 25, 2012   Link

  • 2 Replies Log in to reply
    
      There was an error.
    -2

    I appreciate your attempt to tie the album name together with the song, but you are clearly reading into this. I don't see how you think the speaker is rebelling against religion. The song is too vague. But it does seem to have to do with prayer and surrender.

    Flagged areyousleeping760on September 26, 2012  

    -1

    Now, here is why you are wrong: you have absolutely NO EVIDENCE....
    
    How do you derive "we need only to believe" from "I won't forget"? If anything his implies that the actions of the poet will always reflect the forgiveness they have already received, which would mean living morally. "Shake the excess," therefore wouldn't be "shake the guilt" the poet recognizes guilt as good insofar as it brings change to one's life, but doesn't want life to be consumed by guilt. Let us, however look at the line "shake the excess" in the context of other parts of the song. If you're right and this is a commentary on religion, then when the poet refers to "him with less," what would come to mind but Christ himself, who lives his teaching of poverty radically? Christ says, "blessed are the poor in spirit." "It will be harder for the rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven that for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle." Therefore, if this be a biblical reference, then "shake the excess" would be much more clearly understood as "live poverty" whether that be in spirit or in a more radical way.
    
    Furthermore, you're pretty little bible quotes: "So take my flesh and fix my eyes." does relate to these quotes, but not in the way you have interpreted by any means!
    Galatians 5:16 " I say, then: live by the Spirit and you will certainly not gratify the desire of the flesh." Paul is telling the Galatians (members of the Universal Church) to serve others rather than themselves. This quote, therefore is saying to be docile to the holy spirit and do not let your concupisible desires consume you, but rather live temperately (virtuously) and follow the will of God.
    2 Cor 4:18 "We look not to what is seen but to what is unseen; for what is seen is transitory, but what is unseen is eternal." Beautiful insight putting these two together with this line! I commend you! But how does leaving the flesh to live for God and asking God to fix your sight upon him and him alone denounce the idea of the Church? If I give you a generous interpretation, then this does not even comment upon the nature of religion vs. spirituality, but rather is simply a prayer to God to allow him to be docile to the Spirit and not be attached (as he has already tried to shake the excess), to serve others, and to be fixed upon this mission. (This is the VERY MISSION OF THE CHURCH, so it doesn't argue against the church at all).
    
    So, this isn't what he is trying to say. I will come out with a commentary in following days with more substantiated evidence to support my claim, but I believe it to both be commenting on a woman and upon God. He steps up the latter Socrates describes in the Syposium as he writes. The "you" will cease to be the woman and become the good within her, and as he keeps climbing, he is waiting for God himself to be more present in his life, and therefore not buying into the narrow-souled, bourgeois, progressive mindset of building a "tower of babel" in the state and attempting to create utopia. Without God, this is a hopeless task.

    Flagged lh80127on September 28, 2012  

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