Mumford & Sons Hand Video Duty to Top Funnymen

Unless you have been living under a rock or comparably without Internet for the past 24 hours or so, then you have seen or at least heard of Mumford and Sons’s new video for their single “Hopeless Wanderer”.

It starts out subtly, with close-ups of instruments and panning views of the band playing said instruments... or are they really? Around the one minute mark is when you finally realize that it isn’t quite Mumford plucking away at the banjo and they aren’t quite Sons playing the piano or strumming the guitar.

The band members have been replaced by the likes Jason Sudeikus (Marcus Mumford), Will Forte (Ted Dwane), Jason Bateman (Winston Marshall), and Ed Helms (Ben Lovett). That is one powerful comedic group to replace an equally powerful music group. Could the pairings be any better?

The new Mumford and Sons hopelessly wander down a beaten gravel path, struggling to carry their instruments as earring-clad Sudeikus continues with the lyrics. The shot cuts to the group in a field all together for a quick build-up to the musical and lyrical outburst that takes us to a lighted shed. The video keeps up the pace until a bit of a breakdown where Sudeikus and Forte share a... slightly sloppy intimate moment.

The men show their comedic sides with a little banjo hip-thrusting number and are soon seen sharing a beer and toasting to being a hopeless wanderer. I guess that’s something to be celebrated?

It’s clearly visible how much fun they are having playing these roles. What is most interesting to me is how different of an approach this is by Mumford and Sons. Their songs and videos are normally fairly serious, so to put some of today’s best comedians in their shoes is a completely bold route. This video is something worth watching at least five times just to let it digest, and you may see something you didn’t notice the previous time!

Check out the quirky visuals:

(Image via Mumford & Sons/YouTube)

- Danielle Koch, YH Staff