Stuck In My Skull 417 -- "I Will Wait" [Pop Week II]

Pop Week II || Song: "I Will Wait" || Artist: Mumford & Sons || http://youtu.be/rGKfrgqWcv0 ||

Comments: Hello, everyone! I wasn't originally going to use this song for this week. In fact, I originally thought this song was overrated. When it was performed live on an awards show I was watching (I thin it was the Grammys...), I found myself dissapointed that the show had used this particular artist for the big performance. And yet, here we are. I have to say, this song really, really grew on me. It holds the dubious honor of being the only song with a prominent banjo that I actually enjoy. And on the subject of that banjo... wow. That banjo is ridiculous. If you just listen to the banjo part, you might be surprised that the banjo player's fingers haven't fallen off. This song is impressively arranged, with instrumentation that fits together beautifully and shakes up the norms for pop music. Looking at the music video, I count and acoustic guitar, a banjo, a keyboard, a stringed instrument I'm going to tentatively peg as a cello, and a kick drum. Just a kick drum. Not a drummer with a drum set, just a kick drum. There's a full drum set in the background behind the artists, but it sits unused. Also, I'm no cellist, but I'm fairly sure those are usually played with a bow, not by picking at the strings. (I went poking around the Wikipedia article about them: There might be a mandolin, and I saw no reference of a cello.) Their vocalists blend wonderfully in both the mastered versions we hear on the radio and the live version they recorded for the music video. While I'm the first to defend the artistic use of auto-tune  even I can respect vocal skill in its absence. But I'm getting off topic. Mumford and Sons has managed to make bluegrass and folk into pop and manage to get a song with a prominent banjo stuck in my head. As it's no secret that I generally dislike the sound of banjos, I must doff my hat and say "Well done, Mumford and Sons." Enjoy!