A lot of their songs are pretty clearly about struggling with faith and this one is more obvious than most.
The central idea is to "hold on to what you believe in the light//When the darkness has robbed you of all sight". "What if I was wrong?" is coming up, he's wondering if perhaps his whole faith is a lie. He "could not take the burden of both you and I" - he has his own issues, how can he deal with being faithful to God at the same time? But the world means "less and less to [him] without [God] breathing through its trees", so he realises that he must hold on to his faith regardless of what his current state of mind leads him to believe.
Basically, when you go through tough times, you're not going to be thinking straight necessarily. You might question even your deepest beliefs. The song is simply saying that you should trust your decisions "in the light", you should believe what you believe when life is good, rather than succumbing to doubts that arrive in the dark.
No. Not even a little bit.
And Heather Rochelle nailed exactly why it's not about religion.
No. Not even a little bit.
And Heather Rochelle nailed exactly why it's not about religion.
He clearly defines who "we" are in the second line (ie, himself and the subject of the song).
He clearly defines who "we" are in the second line (ie, himself and the subject of the song).
"But we're young" clearly refers to him and the subject of the song.
"But we're young" clearly refers to him and the subject of the song.
Also, Mumford has very clearly expressed in this article (guardian.co.uk/music/2010/feb/11/mumford-sons-sigh-more - and elsewhere) that their lyrics are "a Âdeliberately spiritual thing but Âdeliberately not a Âreligious thing."
Also, Mumford has very clearly expressed in this article (guardian.co.uk/music/2010/feb/11/mumford-sons-sigh-more - and elsewhere) that their lyrics are "a Âdeliberately spiritual thing but Âdeliberately not a Âreligious thing."
So reading [him] and [God] into his lyrics is completely incorrect.
So reading [him] and [God] into his lyrics is completely incorrect.
Yeah, so this is so obviously about faith, as are most of their songs. Genuinely mate, listen to The Cave, Roll Away Your Stone, even Winter Winds and its pretty clear that his feelings about love are wrapped up in his feelings about God or Christianity or Spirituality or whatever you wanna call it.
Yeah, so this is so obviously about faith, as are most of their songs. Genuinely mate, listen to The Cave, Roll Away Your Stone, even Winter Winds and its pretty clear that his feelings about love are wrapped up in his feelings about God or Christianity or Spirituality or whatever you wanna call it.
In that article you quoted he says "We all have our Âseparate views on religion, but I think faith is something to be celebrated. I have my own personal views, they're still real to me, and I want to write about them." - he literally says that he is going to write about his views on faith.
I'm not saying its not about a girl, it probably is, as explosionsofwarmairflow said, you probably want to keep faith and a relationship in mind at the same time here.
A lot of their songs are pretty clearly about struggling with faith and this one is more obvious than most.
The central idea is to "hold on to what you believe in the light//When the darkness has robbed you of all sight". "What if I was wrong?" is coming up, he's wondering if perhaps his whole faith is a lie. He "could not take the burden of both you and I" - he has his own issues, how can he deal with being faithful to God at the same time? But the world means "less and less to [him] without [God] breathing through its trees", so he realises that he must hold on to his faith regardless of what his current state of mind leads him to believe.
Basically, when you go through tough times, you're not going to be thinking straight necessarily. You might question even your deepest beliefs. The song is simply saying that you should trust your decisions "in the light", you should believe what you believe when life is good, rather than succumbing to doubts that arrive in the dark.
No. Not even a little bit. And Heather Rochelle nailed exactly why it's not about religion.
No. Not even a little bit. And Heather Rochelle nailed exactly why it's not about religion.
He clearly defines who "we" are in the second line (ie, himself and the subject of the song).
He clearly defines who "we" are in the second line (ie, himself and the subject of the song).
"But we're young" clearly refers to him and the subject of the song.
"But we're young" clearly refers to him and the subject of the song.
Also, Mumford has very clearly expressed in this article (guardian.co.uk/music/2010/feb/11/mumford-sons-sigh-more - and elsewhere) that their lyrics are "a Âdeliberately spiritual thing but Âdeliberately not a Âreligious thing."
Also, Mumford has very clearly expressed in this article (guardian.co.uk/music/2010/feb/11/mumford-sons-sigh-more - and elsewhere) that their lyrics are "a Âdeliberately spiritual thing but Âdeliberately not a Âreligious thing."
So reading [him] and [God] into his lyrics is completely incorrect.
So reading [him] and [God] into his lyrics is completely incorrect.
Yeah, so this is so obviously about faith, as are most of their songs. Genuinely mate, listen to The Cave, Roll Away Your Stone, even Winter Winds and its pretty clear that his feelings about love are wrapped up in his feelings about God or Christianity or Spirituality or whatever you wanna call it.
Yeah, so this is so obviously about faith, as are most of their songs. Genuinely mate, listen to The Cave, Roll Away Your Stone, even Winter Winds and its pretty clear that his feelings about love are wrapped up in his feelings about God or Christianity or Spirituality or whatever you wanna call it.
In that article you quoted he says "We all have our Âseparate views on religion, but I think faith is something to be celebrated. I have my own personal views, they're still real to me, and I want to write about them." - he literally says that he is going to write about his views on faith.
I'm not saying its not about a girl, it probably is, as explosionsofwarmairflow said, you probably want to keep faith and a relationship in mind at the same time here.
@paulney - yes, because "a deliberate spiritual thing" could not mean "faith" or "God". (You may want to catch up on your theology a little.)
@paulney - yes, because "a deliberate spiritual thing" could not mean "faith" or "God". (You may want to catch up on your theology a little.)