Guiding Light (song)

{{About|the Mumford & Sons song|the Muse song|The Resistance (album)|The Veils song|The Runaway Found|the Television song|Marquee Moon}}

{{Infobox song

| name = Guiding Light

| cover =

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = Mumford & Sons

| album = Delta

| released = 20 September 2018

| recorded = 2017

| studio =

| venue =

| genre = {{flatlist|

}}

| length = 3:37

| label = {{hlist|Gentlemen of the Road|Island|Glassnote}}

| writer = {{hlist|Marcus Mumford|Winston Marshall|Ben Lovett|Ted Dwane}}

| producer = Paul Epworth

| prev_title = Wona

| prev_year = 2016

| next_title = Beloved

| next_year = 2019

}}

"Guiding Light" is a song by English rock band Mumford & Sons. It was released as the lead single from their fourth studio album, Delta, on 20 September 2018.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/rock/8476186/mumford-and-sons-guiding-light-delta-album|title=Mumford & Sons Return With New Song 'Guiding Light' From Upcoming Album 'Delta'|magazine=Billboard|accessdate=2 October 2018}} The song peaked at number 40 on the UK Singles Chart.

Background

The song was first played live at Sziget Festival 2018, as one of three new songs the band played. On 19 September 2018, an audio snippet from the song was released on the band's Twitter page. Guiding Light premiered on 20 September 2018 on BBC Radio 1. Speaking to Annie Mac on Radio 1 about the single, Marcus Mumford said: "It was a bit of a beast to try and get on record. It was hard work. We kind of tried it in loads of different ways...this one took a while. We wrote it like a year ago, but it’s taken a while to just get it to that point and now we're happy with it."{{cite web|url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/mumford-and-sons-new-single-guiding-light-new-album-delta-2381788|title=Mumford & Sons return with 'Guiding Light' and announce details of new album|last=Aubrey|first=Elizabeth|date=20 September 2018|work=NME|accessdate=2 October 2018}} A lyric video was released simultaneously with the premiere of the track. The song made its television debut on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, and was later played on The Graham Norton Show, Saturday Night Live, and BBC Live Lounge, with acoustic performances at Radio.com and Sirius XM.

Composition

Elizabeth Aubrey of NME described "Guiding Light" as a "dizzying folk-rock song that builds, builds, explodes and then explodes again". Joshua Copperman of Spin dubbed it a "solid folk-pop song".{{Cite web|url= https://www.spin.com/2018/11/mumford-and-sons-delta-review/|work=Spin|title=Mumford & Sons' New Album Delta Is Doing Too Much Of Everything|first=Joshua|last=Copperman|accessdate=February 7, 2023|date=November 14, 2018|quote=Even lead single “Guiding Light” doesn’t need lavish orchestrations or a huge finale to be a solid folk-pop song.}} Jon Dolan of Rolling Stone described the song as having "angelic electronics" and instrumentation that recalls "West African guitar blues".{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/review-mumford-and-sons-epic-bummer-delta-757483/amp/|title=Review: Mumford and Sons' Epic Bummer 'Delta'|magazine=Rolling Stone|first=Jon|last=Dolan|accessdate=February 7, 2023|date=November 16, 2018|quote=…and the single “Guiding Light” spritzes their signature barrel-chested group vocals and manly strumming with angelic electronics. Elsewhere, Epworth uses tricks to give string-band instrumentation a hypnotic feel that can recall West African guitar blues.}}

Music video

The official video premiered on 17 October 2018; it uses footage from the band's mini-concert, originally filmed outside the Tate Modern in London on 21 September 2018.

Track listing

{{Track listing

| headline = Digital download

| title1 = Guiding Light

| length1 = 3:37

}}

Charts

=Weekly charts=

Chart (2018–2019) ! Peak position
class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
{{single chart\|Flanders Tip\|2\|artist=Mumford & Sons\|song=Guiding Light\|rowheader=true\|access-date=24 November 2018}}
{{single chart\|Wallonia Tip\|17\|artist=Mumford & Sons\|song=Guiding Light\|rowheader=true\|access-date=20 October 2018}}
{{single chart\|Canada\|69\|artist=Mumford & Sons\|rowheader=true\|access-date=3 October 2018}}
{{single chart\|Billboardcanadarock\|6\|artist=Mumford & Sons\|rowheader=true\|access-date=November 5, 2021}}
{{single chart\|Finnishairplay\|83\|artist=Mumford & Sons\|song=Guiding Light\|rowheader=true\|accessdate=1 February 2023}}
scope="row"\| Iceland (Tónlistinn){{cite web\|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20181129212057/http://plotutidindi.is/lagalistinn/\|archivedate=29 November 2018\|url=http://plotutidindi.is/lagalistinn/\|title=Vika 47 – 2018\|language=is\|website=Plötutíðindi\|access-date=29 September 2022}} \| 9
scope="row"\| Ireland (IRMA){{cite web\|url=http://irma.ie/index.cfm?page=irish-charts&chart=Singles\|title=IRMA – Irish Charts\|publisher=Irish Recorded Music Association\|access-date=3 October 2018}} \| 52
scope="row"\| Netherlands Single Tip (MegaCharts){{cite web\|url=https://dutchcharts.nl/weekchart.asp?cat=st&year=2016&date=20180929\|title=Netherlands Single Tip Chart – 29/09/2018\|publisher=MegaCharts\|access-date=3 October 2018}} \| 13
scope="row"\| New Zealand Hot Singles (RMNZ){{cite web\|url=https://aotearoamusiccharts.co.nz/archive/hot-singles/2018-09-28\|title=NZ Hot Singles Chart\|publisher=Recorded Music NZ\|date=1 October 2018\|access-date=3 October 2018}} \| 28
{{single chart\|Scotland\|14\|date=2018-09-28\|rowheader=true\|access-date=2 October 2018}}
scope="row"\| Sweden (Sverigetopplistan){{cite web\|url=http://www.sverigetopplistan.se/\|title=Sverigetopplistan – Sveriges Officiella Topplista\|publisher=Sverigetopplistan\|access-date=24 November 2018}} \| 98
{{single chart\|Switzerland\|86\|artist=Mumford & Sons\|song=Guiding Light\|rowheader=true\|access-date=2 October 2018}}
{{single chart\|UK\|40\|date=20180928\|rowheader=true\|access-date=2 October 2018}}
{{single chart\|Billboardbubbling100\|6\|artist=Mumford & Sons\|rowheader=true\|access-date=3 October 2018}}
{{single chart\|Billboardadultpopsongs\|17\|artist=Mumford & Sons\|rowheader=true\|access-date=26 February 2019}}
{{single chart\|Billboardrocksongs\|5\|artist=Mumford & Sons\|rowheader=true\|access-date=7 January 2019}}
{{single chart\|Billboardrockairplay\|2\|artist=Mumford & Sons\|rowheader=true\|access-date=7 January 2019}}

=Year-end charts=

class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
scope="col"\| Chart (2018) ! scope="col"\| Position
scope="row"\| US Hot Rock Songs (Billboard){{cite magazine\|url=http://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/2018/hot-rock-songs\|title=Hot Rock Songs – Year-End 2018\|magazine=Billboard\|accessdate=April 3, 2020}} \| 55

class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

scope="col"| Chart (2018)

! scope="col"| Position

scope="row"| US Hot Rock Songs (Billboard){{cite magazine|url=http://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/2018/hot-rock-songs|title=Hot Rock Songs – Year-End 2018|magazine=Billboard|accessdate=April 3, 2020}}

| 55

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

scope="col"| Chart (2019)

! scope="col"| Position

scope="row"| US Hot Rock Songs (Billboard){{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/2019/hot-rock-songs|title=Hot Rock Songs – Year-End 2019|magazine=Billboard|access-date=December 12, 2019}}

| 18

scope="row"| US Rock Airplay Songs (Billboard){{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/2019/rock-airplay-songs|title=Rock Airplay Songs – Year-End 2019|magazine=Billboard|access-date=December 12, 2019}}

| 15

=All-time charts=

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"!Chart (1995–2021) \|+All-time chart performance for "Guiding Light" ! Chart ! Position
scope="row" style="text-align:left;" \| US Adult Alternative Airplay (Billboard){{cite magazine\|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/greatest-of-all-time-adult-alternative-songs/\|title=Greatest of All Time Adult Alternative Songs\|magazine=Billboard\|access-date=October 5, 2023}} \|11

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"!Chart (1995–2021)

|+All-time chart performance for "Guiding Light"

! Chart

! Position

scope="row" style="text-align:left;" | US Adult Alternative Airplay (Billboard){{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/greatest-of-all-time-adult-alternative-songs/|title=Greatest of All Time Adult Alternative Songs|magazine=Billboard|access-date=October 5, 2023}}

|11

Certifications

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Canada|artist=Mumford & Sons|title=Guiding Light|award=Gold|type=single|relyear=2018|certyear=2019|access-date=21 January 2023}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|artist=Mumford & Sons|title=Guiding Light|award=Silver|type=single|relyear=2018|certyear=2020|id=16738-2307-1|access-date=21 January 2023}}

{{Certification Table Bottom|streaming=true|nosales=true|noshipments=true}}

Release history

class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
Region ! Date ! Format ! Label
scope="row"\| United Kingdom \| 20 September 2018 \| Digital download \| {{hlist\|Gentlemen of the Road\|Island\|Glassnote}}

class="wikitable plainrowheaders"

Region

! Date

! Format

! Label

scope="row"| United Kingdom

| 20 September 2018

| Digital download

| {{hlist|Gentlemen of the Road|Island|Glassnote}}

References

Category:2018 singles

Category:2018 songs

Category:Mumford & Sons songs

Category:Songs written by Marcus Mumford

Category:Songs written by Winston Marshall

Category:Songs written by Ben Lovett (British musician)

Category:Songs written by Ted Dwane