The Many References of Mumford & Sons Quiz

Answer: Sigh No More, Ladies

In the play, Balthasar continues his song with "Men were deceivers ever, one foot in sea and one foot on shore" (the latter part of this line is also in the Mumford & Sons song). There the song is part of a plot on the part of Don Pedro to place doubts in a woman's mind about the fidelity of her fiancée.

Many of the other lines in the Mumford & Sons song, including "Serve God, love me and mend" and "man is a giddy thing", are also drawn directly from the play.

Answer: Macbeth

In the play, the line occurs shortly after King Duncan tells Macbeth that he is naming Malcolm (and not Macbeth) as his heir. In an aside, Macbeth asks the stars to hide their fires so that his "deep and black desires" (his own ambitions of becoming King) are not shown to the light. The band takes this line and flips it around, saying,

"Stars, hide your fires.
These here are my desires,
and I will give them up to you this time around".

No more hiding from the light for them!

Answer: King Lear

At the play's opening, the aging King Lear divides his kingdom between Regan and Goneril in response to their flattering declarations of love, and disinherits his third daughter Cordelia for her own honesty. Once they gain their power, though, the first two daughters mistreat both Lear and his men.

"I gave you all!" is the anguished cry of Lear as he confronts his daughters about their behavior.

Answer: John Steinbeck

The word Timshel appears in Genesis Chapter 4, immediately after God warns Cain about how sin "lieth at the door". In the King James Bible, the word is translated as "shalt", as in "thou shalt rule over" sin. But the characters in "East of Eden" eventually come to the conclusion that the proper translation is "thou MAYEST" -- it is your choice how you face adversity!

In the song, it is instead death that is "at your doorstep". But, as the song promises as it goes on, "it will not steal your substance...you have your choices, and these are what make man great".

Answer: The Cave

In Plato's allegory of the cave, prisoners are chained from birth so that all they can see of the world are shadows projected on the wall in front of them. If such people were confronted with the real world for the first time, he claims, they would still think at first that the shadows were the true reality. Finding the light painful, they would then want to flee back into their cave.

But if they were forced into the light, and forced to stay there, they would eventually come to appreciate the true nature of things and no longer desire to go back in the cave. They "would rather suffer anything than entertain these false notions and live in this miserable manner." (quote taken from Book VII of Benjamin Jowett's translation)

Answer: Babel

In the Book of Genesis, the people intended to build a tower "whose top may reach unto heaven", in order to "make a name" for themselves. The confounding of language was then done in order to prevent the tower from being built.

In the song of the same name, Mumford takes this as a metaphor for his own pride, singing "Like the city that nurtured my greed and my pride, I stretched my arms into the sky". But, like the Biblical tower, the tower he builds around himself remain unfinished, and eventually "the walls of my tower they come crumbling down."

Answer: Peter

This is one of the few songs where Mumford is not the lead singer: instead he harmonizes to Winston Marshall's lead. It is one of three bonus tracks on the Deluxe Version of "Babel".

Answer: London

One end of Holland Road is located across Shepherd's Bush Green from the O2 Empire venue where Mumford & Sons recorded their first live album. The other end is at Kensington High Street, and is the location of the UK Headquarters of the Universal Music Group, the parent company of the band's label.

Answer: New York City

Much of "Wilder Mind" was written in the studio of The National's Aaron Dessner, which is located close to Brooklyn's Ditmas Park. Tompkins Square Park is located across the East River in Manhattan.

New York also gets a nod in "Broad-Shouldered Beasts" from the same album, which references how "Manhattan beats at the night".

Answer: Hot Gates

The Battle of Thermopylae was fought between an invading Persian force and a coalition of Greek forces and served as the (loose) inspiration for the 2007 film "300". The Persians, who heavily outnumbered the Greeks, eventually won the battle, but suffered heavy losses in doing so.

In the song, Mumford makes reference to the idea of the costs of winning, singing of "these hot gates you spent your victory on".