Mumford and Other Observations: Recent Episodes
T. S. Russell
An examination of the literary sources in Mumford and Sons' lyrics. T. S. Russell and Bridget Gamboni seek the answers to life's most important questions with the music of Mumford and Sons as their guiding light.
Follow us on Instagram @mumfordpodcast
"After the Storm" Lyrics
And after the storm
I run and run as the rains come
And I look up
On my knees and out of luck, I look up
Night has always pushed up day
You must know life to see decay
But I won’t rot, I won’t rot
Not this mind and not this heart, I won’t rot
And I took you by the hand,
And we stood tall
And remembered our own land
What we live for
But there will come a time you’ll see
With no more tears
And love will not break your heart
But dismiss your fears
Get over your hill and see, what you find there
With grace in your heart and flowers in your hair
Now I cling to what I knew
I saw exactly what was true, but oh no more
That’s why I hold
That’s why I hold with all I have
That’s why I hold
And I will die alone, and be left there
Well I guess I’ll just go home
Or God knows where
Because death is just so full, and man so small
I’m scared of what’s behind, and what’s before
But there will come a time you’ll see
With no more tears
And love will not break your heart
But dismiss your fears
Get over your hill and see, what you find there
With grace in your heart and flowers in your hair
Follow us on Instagram @mumfordpodcast
"Dust Bowl Dance" Lyrics
The young man stands on the edge of his porch
The days were short and the father was gone
There was no one in the town and no one in the field
This dusty barren land had given all it could yield
I’ve been kicked off my land at the age of sixteen
And I have no idea where else my heart could have been
I placed all my trust at the foot of this hill
And now I am sure my heart could never be still
So collect your courage and collect your horse
And pray you never feel this same kind of remorse.
Seal my heart and break my pride
I’ve nowhere to stand and now nowhere to hide
Align my heart, my body, my mind
To face what I’ve done, and do my time
Well you are my accuser, now look in my face
Your oppression reeks of your greed and disgrace
So one man has and another has not
How can you love what it is you have got
When you took it all from the weak hands of the poor
Liars and thieves you know not what is in store
There will come a time I will look in your eye
You will pray to the God that you always denied
Then I’ll go out back and I’ll get my gun
I’ll say you haven’t met me, I am the only son
Seal my heart and break my pride
I’ve nowhere to stand and now nowhere to hide
Align my heart, my body, my mind
To face what I’ve done, and do my time
Well yes sir, yes sir, yes it was me
I know what I’ve done, ‘cause I know what I’ve seen
I went out back and I got my gun
I said you haven’t met me, I am the only son
Everything starts to come together at the end of the album, starting with this song. Awake My Soul is so good and so jam-packed with awesomeness that we had to record a mega-episode in order to do it justice!
Check us out on YouTube and follow us on Instagram @mumfordpodcast
This podcast is a production of The Flight House. Support our work at buymeacoffee.com/theflighthouse
Links Mentioned in Episode:
Dennis Russell
Dennis From Scratch
“Awake My Soul” Lyrics
How fickle my heart and how woozy my eyes
I struggle to find any truth in your lies
And now my heart stumbles on things I don’t know
My weakness I feel I must finally show
Lend me your hand and we’ll conquer them all
But lend me your heart and I’ll just let you fall
Lend me your eyes, I can change what you see
But your soul you must keep totally free
Awake my soul, awake my soul
In these bodies we will live, in these bodies we will die
Where you invest your love, you invest your life
Awake my soul, awake my soul
For you were made to meet your maker
We continue our discussion of the album Sigh No More by examining Thistle and Weed's connections to Christ's parables.
Check us out on YouTube and follow us on Instagram @mumfordpodcast
This podcast is a production of The Flight House. Support our work at buymeacoffee.com/theflighthouse
“Thistle and Weeds” Lyrics
Spare me your judgments and spare me your dreams
‘Cause recently mine have been tearing my seams
I sit alone in this winter clarity which clouds my mind
Alone in the wind and the rain you left me
It’s getting dark, darling, too dark to see
And I’m on my knees and your faith in shreds it seems
Corrupted by the simple sniff of riches blown
I know you have felt much more love than you’ve shown
I’m on my knees and the water creeps to my chest
But plant your hope with good seeds
Don’t cover yourself with thistle and weeds
Rain down, rain down on me
Look over your hills and be still
The sky above us shoots to kill
Rain down, rain down on me
I will hold on, I will hold on hope
I begged you to hear me, there’s more than flesh and bones
Let the dead bury the dead
They will come out in droves
But take the spade from my hand, and fill in the holes you’ve made
Plant your hope with good seeds
Don’t cover yourself with thistle and weeds
Rain down, rain down on me
We continue our discussion of the album Sigh No More by examining Timshel's connections to John Steinbeck's East of Eden and the book of Genesis. Featuring special guests Elizabeth Bernadette and Clare Fletcher.
Check us out on YouTube and follow us on Instagram @mumfordpodcast
This podcast is a production of The Flight House. Support our work at buymeacoffee.com/theflighthouse
Links:
Little Lion Man by Mumford and Sons
East of Eden - The First Page
Through the Deep, Dark Valley by the Oh Hellos
Sirens by the Gray Havens
Dante's Inferno - The First Page
“Timshel” Lyrics
Cold is the water, it freezes your already cold mind
Already cold, cold mind
And death is at your doorstep and it will steal your innocence
But it will not steal your substance
But you are not alone in this
You are not alone in this
As brothers we will stand
And we’ll hold your hand
You are the mother, the mother of your baby child
The one to whom you gave life
And you have your choices — these are what make man great
His ladder to the stars
But you are not alone in this
You are not alone in this
As brothers we will stand
And we’ll hold your hand
But I will tell the night
And whisper lose your sight
But I can’t move the mountains for you
We continue our discussion of the album Sigh No More by examining Little Lion Man's connections to L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, John Steinbeck's East of Eden, and the book of Genesis.
Check us out on YouTube and follow us on Instagram @mumfordpodcast
This podcast is a production of The Flight House. Support our work at buymeacoffee.com/theflighthouse
Links:
Little Lion Man by Mumford and Sons
East of Eden - The First Page
“Little Lion Man” Lyrics:
Weep for yourself my man
You’ll never be what is in your heart
Weep little lion man
You’re not as brave as you were at the start
Rate yourself and rake yourself
Take all the courage you have left
Waste it on fixing all the problems that you made in your own head
But it was not your fault but mine
It was your heart on the line
I really “effed” it up this time
Didn’t I, my dear
Tremble for yourself my man
You know that you have seen this all before
Tremble little lion man
You’ll never settle any of your scores
Your grace is wasted in your face
Your boldness stands alone among the wreck
Now learn from your mother or else spend your days biting your own neck
But it was not your fault but mine
It was your heart on the line
I really “effed” it up this time
Didn’t I, my dear
We continue our discussion of the album Sigh No More by examining I Gave You All's connections to Shakespeare's King Lear.
Check us out on YouTube and follow us on Instagram @mumfordpodcast
This podcast is a production of The Flight House. Support our work at buymeacoffee.com/theflighthouse
Links:
I Gave You All by Mumford and Sons
King Lear - The First Page
I Gave You All Lyrics:
Rip the earth in two with your mind
Seal the urge which ensues with brass wires
I never meant you any harm
But your tears feel warm as they fall on my forearm
But close my eyes for a while
Force from the world a patient smile
How can you say that your truth is better than ours
Shoulder to shoulder, now brother, we carry no arms
The blind man sleeps in the doorway, his home
If only I had an enemy bigger than my apathy I could have won
But I gave you all
Close my eyes for a while
Force from the world a patient smile
But I gave you all
But you rip it from my hands, and you swear it’s all gone
And you rip out all I have just to say that you’ve won
Well now you’ve won
We continue our discussion of the album Sigh No More by examining White Blank Page's connections to JPII's Theology of the Body and Shakespeare's Othello. Featuring special guest Elizabeth Bernadette
Check us out on YouTube and follow us on Instagram @mumfordpodcast
This podcast is a production of The Flight House. Support our work at buymeacoffee.com/theflighthouse
Links:
White Blank Page by Mumford and Sons
Othello - The First Page
Theology of the Body - The First Page
Episode Four of Mumford and Other Observations podcast. We continue our discussion of the album Sigh No More by examining Roll Away Your Stone's connections to Dante's Divine Comedy and Shakespeare's Macbeth.
Check us out on YouTube and follow us on Instagram @mumfordpodcast
This podcast is a production of The Flight House. Support our work at buymeacoffee.com/theflighthouse
Links:
Dante article mentioned in the episode
Roll Away Your Stone by Mumford and Sons
First Page of "INFERNO" by Dante Alighieri
First Page of "MACBETH" by William Shakespeare
Like a Rolling Stone by Bob Dylan
We continue our discussion of the album Sigh No More by examining Winter Wind's connections to the Song of Songs and the classic theme of Memento Mori. Featuring special guest Andrew Russell.
Check us out on YouTube and follow us on Instagram @mumfordpodcast
This podcast is a production of The Flight House. Support our work at buymeacoffee.com/theflighthouse
Links:
Winter Winds by Mumford and Sons
First Page of "THE SONG OF SONGS" from Holy Scripture
First Page of "THEOLOGY OF THE BODY" by John Paul II
First Page of "THE CANTERBURY TALES" by Geoffrey Chaucer
Unfinished Business by Mumford and Sons
We continue our discussion of the album Sigh No More by examining The Cave's connections to Plato's Republic, Homer's Odyssey, and Chesterton's biography of Saint Francis of Assisi.
Check us out on YouTube and follow us on Instagram @mumfordpodcast
This podcast is a production of The Flight House. Support our work at buymeacoffee.com/theflighthouse
Our discussion of the album Sigh No More begins with a deep dive into the title song, with William Shakespeare as our special guest.
You Know Me by Air Traffic Controller
Joss Whedon's Much Ado About Nothing
This podcast is a production of The Flight House. Support our work at buymeacoffee.com/theflighthouse
Tim and Bridget talk about their favorite Mumford and Sons albums and how they first got interested in the band.
Follow us on Instagram at @mumfordpodcast
Watch us on YouTube
Mumford and Other Observations is a production of The Flight House. Find out more at buymeacoffee.com/theflighthouse
Follow us on Instagram at @mumfordpodcast
Watch us on YouTube
Mumford and Other Observations is a production of The Flight House. Find out more at buymeacoffee.com/theflighthouse