Mumford & Sons’ newly-filmed music video of “BABEL,” filmed in San Francisco:

Excellent filmography, better melodies, and even better-est words…

So you may sing along, here are the lyrics to Babel¹, the title track on their newest album:

‘Cause I know that time has numbered my days
And I’ll go along with everything you say
But I’ll ride home laughing, look at me now
The walls of my town, they come crumbling down

And my ears hear the call of my unborn sons
And I know their choices color all I’ve done
But I’ll explain it all to the watchman’s son,
I ain’t ever lived a year better spent in love

‘Cause I’ll know my weakness, know my voice
And I believe in grace and choice
And I know perhaps my heart is fast,
But I’ll be born without a mask

Like the city that nurtured my greed and my pride,
I stretch my arms into the sky
I cry Babel! Babel! Look at me now
Then the walls of my town, they come crumbling down

You ask where will we stand in the winds that will howl,
As all we see will slip into the cloud
So come down from your mountain and stand where we’ve been,
You know our breath is weak and our body thin

Press my nose up to the glass around your heart
I should’ve known I was weaker from the start
You’ll build your walls and I will play my bloody part
To tear, tear them down,
Well I’m gonna tear, tear them down

‘Cause I know my weakness, know my voice,
And I believe in grace and choice
And I know perhaps my heart is fast,
But I’ll be born without a mask

To me it describes the conflicted angst we feel as Christ-followers to find our identity in Him and not in our performance, achievements, choices. It’s moving from man-centered religion (aka self-actualization) — our default mode, pre-occupied with self — to an overwhelming sense of God’s acceptance and Love. He conquers our pride and satisfies our deepest longings.

Babel — “the city that nurtured my greed and my pride” — was the ancient city of ambition and notoriety, and as the people sought to build their way to heaven, God scattered them, confused their (our) languages, and set us on a new course of discovery (see Genesis 11). It’s us who have made the journey a project of self-discovery, rather than Creator-discovery as our Father intended. It’s a song about worship.

Question: why don’t we get into singing to God as much as these guys do? Why are we so self-conscious and reserved?

We are worshipers of the one true God, coming to Him in response to who Jesus is and all He has done for us.