Favorite Lines from Delta

It was spring semester of my junior year in college that friends began introducing me to the music of Mumford & Sons.  Ben R and Caitlyn in particular come to mind, both more or less forcibly sitting me down and saying, "You have to listen to this."  I wasn't convinced at first, but they grew on me, and since then, their music has been a deeply integrated part of different stages of my life. 

That summer (before my semester studying in China,) my roommate Joanna and I bonded over Sigh No More.  My memories from my first fall teaching in China are soundtracked with Babel.  When I lived in Bloomington, I fell in love with Wilder Mind (despite the very different sound) one song at a time, as they'd play on our radio station at the coffee shop and I would think, Wow, who is this by?  ..wait, this is also Mumford & Sons? 

So I wasn't too surprised when I also fell in love with song after song on their latest album, Delta.  It's probably no surprise that it's often the lyrics that draw me to music.  Andrew Peterson, Josh Garrels, Jars of Clay, Boyhood Bravery -- they all won my heart by their way with words, finding the perfect turn of phrase to throw a new light on reality or to express some piece of my soul that I'd never found words for before.

Anyway, I've been listening to Delta over and over the past few days, as I do when I fall in love with a new album.  (Hamilton may still hold the record, though -- it took a lot of replays to get the nuance of witty puns and wordplays!)  I've read plenty of critiques of this newest album, but myself -- I love the themes of darkness and light, the nerdiness of incorporating Paradise Lost (and Scripture...), and some of their wording reminds me of T. S. Eliot's poetry.  So (mostly for my own future reference) here are some of my very favorite lines from Delta.

But what if I need you in my darkest hour?
And what if it turns out that there is no other?
If this is our last hope, oh
We would see a sign.  (42)

But don't just sit with folded hands and become blind. (Guiding Light)

I can't read your mind, though I'm trying all the time
There's something I don't know, I can see it in your eyes...
You say the sun doesn't shine for you
I hope you're learning that's not true... (Woman)

Well how have I not made a note of every word you ever said?
Time is not on our side
But I pretend that it's alright...
Before you leave, you must know you are beloved
And before you leave, remember I was with you...
Are you afraid?  How ever could you not be?  (Beloved)

From where comes your sparkling mind? (The Wild)

You find me holding my breath for you
It's never more than I can take
I wouldn't have it any other way
You find me on my knees for you
It's never more than I can take
I wouldn't have it any other way (Slip Away)

I don't know what I was thinking
But I know we'll be alright

And I will surround you with a love too deep for words
Hold you from the world and its curse
So long as I have breath in my lungs
So long as there's a song to be sung
I will be yours and you will be mine
My rose of Sharon

Come crashing in like a wildfire, I'm left in awe of you
Every time I close the door, I'm left wanting more of you
I wish I had some grand sense of occasion
But I'll just smile and turn away
I hope you know by now, I don't know another way

When it's said and done
I'm yours forever.  (Rose of Sharon)

And when I feel darkness is a heartbeat away
And I don't know how to fight it
It's a heartbeat away
And now
You don't know me like this
It's a heartbeat away

And I picture you
Soaked in light
And in you I have no doubt
When the chaos calls me out
And I feel like there is nothing I can do
I picture you.  (Picture You)

You've won without an enemy, you're ill without a remedy
As night bleeds into day and I know I came off better than you
It doesn't mean that I feel better...

And if I say I love you, well then, I love you. (If I Say)

It took a wild heart to tame mine
And it took a wild heart to charm
Now a wild heart has gone and floored me
With this everlasting glance...

I wouldn't have you any other way
Who wants a love that makes sense anyway? 

I guess I asked for the truth
I guess I asked for it, brutal and unchained... (Wild Heart)

And the days you defend will turn to gold...

So love with your eyes
Love with your mind
Love with your, dare I say, forever... (Forever)

Do not lie to us
Don't hide your eyes from us...
I will sit upon your floor
Tell your stories, tell all of your pain
That's what I came here for...

What have I to find in our love, I am a waste
My words are empty vessels if I do nothing in this place
And we can scream into the shadows
And it's good that we can
But walk with me, I think we'll find a way...  (Delta)