The Cave... Really?

I know this isn't exactly a new song or anything, but WXRT has been playing the Mumford and Songs song "The Cave" for what seems like many times daily for the past year. I don't understand it. This is a terrible song. What's worse is that you can tell this band is trying so hard to make it sound both lyrically and musically complex. It is neither. Here's why.

The Words

I will hold on hope.
You can't hold on hope. You can hold on. And you can hold on to hope (I guess). Both of these other options would express the same idea but probably wouldn't have fit into the melody. Sucks that this is the first line of the chorus.

And I'll find strength in pain.
It's true you can find strength in pain. But, unlike the "hope" line, this one clearly does not fit the rhythm of the song. I wince every time I hear the vocalist trying to rush the word "find" (0:55).

Cause I need freedom now.
I think it's hard to pull off singing about freedom unless a) you are actually singing about freedom (Bob Marley, slaves), or b) you are singing about personal freedom, in which case you'd better explain yourself at some point in the song. These guys are doing neither.

The music:

Banjos!
The instrumental section of this song is the banjo-equivalent of an incredibly monotonous hair-guitar solo. It unfairly demands that we stomp one foot. (See YouTube comments: "BANJO SOLO!!" and "I just stomped a hole through my floor....")

Trumpets!
You really have to earn your crescendoing trumpet coda within the first three minutes.

Little guitar picking thing.
The guitar in this song sounds like a college acoustic open-mic night that is just okay.

Maybe I have lost half of my readership by the end of this post. I certainly haven't made any new fans. But just listen to this song. Seriously.