Babel (song)

"Babel" is a song performed by British folk rock band Mumford & Sons, released as the fourth single from their second studio album Babel (2012). It was released on 9 July 2013 as a digital download. The song was written by Mumford & Sons and produced by Markus Dravs.

About the name

"Babel" is the name of both the song and the album on which their song appeared. The title is a reference to the story known as the Tower of Babel from Genesis 11:1–9 in the Bible. The song features numerous other biblical references too, which is common for music by Mumford & Sons.

Still, they maintain that their message is not intended to be explicitly religious in nature. Rather, their bassist, Ted Dwane, noted in a Rolling Stone interview that the song is more generally about human striving and discontentment: "As humans, we’re such a discontented species. We’re always trying to further ourselves, and you get all the way to the moon and then it’s just discontent. You want to go to Mars."

Music video

A music video to accompany the release of "Babel" was first released onto YouTube on 8 July 2013 at a total length of four minutes and five seconds. The video shows the band performing the song in the former 16th Street station in Oakland, California.

Track listing

Charts and certifications

Release history