Marcus Mumford: what did Mumford & Sons singer say about childhood abuse and meaning of Cannibal song lyrics

Marcus Mumford has revealed in an interview with GQ that he was sexually abused as a child.

The Mumford & Sons singer opened about his childhood experiences after discussing his upcoming single “Cannibal” which references the abuse.

Mumford said he was “sexually abused as a child” and that he “hadn’t told anyone about it for 30 years.”

The 35-year-old has been married to actress Carey Mulligan since 2012 and the pair currently live in England with their two children.

In the interview, Mumford revealed his parents did not know and discussed how he told his mum about the experience through his new single “Cannibal”

Here’s everything you need to know.

What did Marcus Mumford say in GQ interview?

Mumford revealed in the GQ interview that he had experienced sexual abuse when he was 6-years-old.

Mumford said: “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.

“But I hadn’t told anyone about it for 30 years.”

“Not by family and not in the church, which might be some people’s assumption.”

The singer explained that he really began to struggle in 2019, whilst his band were on tour promoting their Delta album.

He said: “I was at the point where, basically, I’d hit enough of a rock bottom that I was ready to surrender.

“I’d had the people closest to me hold up a mirror and say, like, ‘Dude, something’s not right here and it’s your responsibility to go figure it out.’”

Mumford decided to go into therapy with a therapist who specialises in trauma.

In his second session, whilst talking about the experience, he was physically sick.

“Apparently, it’s very common,” he noted. “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.”

Describing the abuse, Mumford said it 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 [bad] behaviour.”

He added that he had spent his life in “layers of shame” which he had become “addicted to.”

What is his new song Cannibal about?

Cannibal is Mumford’s first single from his first solo album “(Self-titled)” which will be released on 16 September.

The song references the sexual abuse and actually helped him to open up about the experience with his mother.

Mumford had not told anyone about the abuse, including his parents, who were leaders of the evangelical Christian Vineyard Churches.

The singer played “Cannibal” to his mother, who asked him what it was about.

Mumford recalled he told her: “Yeah, it’s about the abuse thing.’ She was like, ‘What are you talking about?’”

He added: “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**king hilarious to tell your mom about your abuse in a f**king song, of all things.”

Cannibal is the first song that Mumford has shared from his album and it is also the opening track.

He explained “I felt like it had to go first.”

“I started sort of apologising for it, in my head. But it’s like: That’s not right, either.”

What are the lyrics to Cannibal?

Cannibal is a deeply personal song that explores Mumford’s experience of childhood sexual abuse.

The video for the single was directed by Steven Spielberg and filmed in a New York high school gymnasium.

The lyrics begin: “I can still taste you and I hate it. That wasn’t a choice in the mind of a child and you knew it. You took the first slice of me and you ate it raw. Ripped it in with your teeth and your lips like a cannibal. You f****** animal.”

Here are the full lyrics to Cannibal:

I can still taste you and I hate it

That wasn’t a choice in the mind of a child and you knew it

You took the first slice of me and you ate it raw

Ripped it in with your teeth and your lips like a cannibal

You f**king animalI can still taste you and it kills me

That there’s still some sick part of it that thrills me

That my own body keeps betraying me

There is such power there, it may destroy me

But it compels me

Of course I deny it

Can hardly believe it

Dismiss or demean it

‘Cause I know I can’t speak it

But when I began to tell, it became thе hardest thing I ever said out loud

Thе words got locked in my throat

Man, I choked

And this is what it feels like to be free

Even though it follows back down

Stares into the dark with me

Even then I deny it

Can hardly believe it

Dismiss or demean it

But I know I must speak it

If I could forgive you now

Release you from all of the blame I know how

If I could forgive you now

As if saying the words will help me know how

To begin again

Help me know how to begin

Help me know how

To begin again

Help me know how

To begin again

Begin again

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You can call their helpline on 116 123 or email [email protected] in the UK.