Marcus Mumford has spoken openly about his childhood experience with sexual abuse. In a GQ in a cover story published August 10, the lead singer of Mumford & Sons explained the single “Cannibal,” which will appear on Self-Titled, his forthcoming solo album, is about his abuse at age 6. “Like lots of people — and I’m learning more and more about this as we go and as I play it to people — I was sexually abused as a child,” Mumford told GQ.“Not by family and not in the church, which might be some people’s assumption,” he added. “But I hadn’t told anyone about it for 30 years.”
The musician didn’t tell his mother what happened until after he played her the song. He remembered her listening and leaving, only to return a few days later and ask, “Can I ask what that song’s about?”
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“I was like, ‘Yeah, it’s about the abuse thing,’” Mumford said he responded. “She was like, ‘What are you talking about?’”
“So once we get through the trauma of that moment for her, as a mother, hearing that and her wanting to protect and help and all that stuff, it’s objectively f– hilarious to tell your mom about your abuse in a f– song, of all things.”The second track on the upcoming album,”Grace,” is about his conversation with his mother.
Years later, during a session in therapy, he began to understand the depth of the abuse’s impact on his life. During his second session with a trauma therapist, Mumford discussed the incident and vomited.
“Apparently, it’s very common,” he said. “Once you basically unhook the denial and start the process of removing some suppression, then it’s very natural for that stuff to come out. I’d had problems breathing all my life. Not asthma but just, like, catching my breath.” In retrospect, he realized that the incident when he was 6 was “the first of a string of really unusual, unhealthy sexual experiences at a really early age.”
“And for some reason, and I can’t really understand why, I didn’t become a perpetrator of sexual abuse — although I’ve done my fair share of cuntish behavior,” Mumford continued. “String of really unhealthy shit when I was under the age of 12, which set my brain up in a way to deal with stuff later on in life in an imbalanced way. And so the last three years has just been trying to look at that and correct some balance.” Mumford’s “Cannibal” music video was directed by Steven Spielberg, with involvement behind-the-scenes from Spielberg’s wife, Kate Capshaw, and Mumford’s wife, actress Carey Mulligan.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, you can contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.
