by Paola de Carolis
The singer wrote in the single “Cannibal” about the abuse he suffered as a child, which he never had the courage to speak out about: “I was shrouded in shame
“I still taste your taste, I hate it. It wasn’t a decision in a child’s mind, you knew that. You took the first piece from me, you ate it raw, you ripped it to bits with your teeth and lips like a cannibal. Verses expressing pain and anger have remained silent for nearly 30 years. Singer Marcus Mumford was a victim of sexual abuse as a child: In the single “Cannibal” he talked about it after coming to terms with his past with the help of a psychologist. He was neither a relative nor a member of his parents’ religious organization — who were the international leaders of the Vineyard Churches, a Christian movement that emerged in the United States in the 1970s. The molestation began when Mumford was just six years old. Mumford hasn’t spoken to anyone about it for a long time. In the song “Cannibal” he wonders if he can ever forgive, if talking about it makes a new beginning easier. Accepting and investigating what happened to him was a difficult and painful process that began when he fell into a black hole at the end of the 2018 tour.
“The people I was closest to showed me what condition I was in and to understand that it was my responsibility to do something.” He turned to a psychologist when he “hit rock bottom.” During the second session he vomited. “It seems to be very common,” he said. “Once you stop denying, you begin to work and allow what you have been repressing.” “I’ve always had trouble – he explained – with breathing. It wasn’t asthma, it was just the breath.” Since childhood he has lived “shrouded in blankets of shame” to which he is “addicted”. The hope is that therapy can now enable him to start a new chapter. The song – whose video was directed by Steven Spielberg – is part of his first solo album: it was through the song that the singer’s mother found out what had happened to her son. During the lockdown, Mumford’s parents moved into his home in Devon (where the musician lives with his wife, actress Carey Mulligan). “My mom heard the song and said she really liked the tune. Then he asked me what the words mean … ».
August 12, 2022 (change August 12, 2022 | 13:11)
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