Bishop Allen is an American indie rock band which formed in Brooklyn, New Y… Read Full Bio ↴Bishop Allen is an American indie rock band which formed in Brooklyn, New York, United States in 2003. The band's core members are Justin Rice and Christian Rudder, who are supported both on stage and in the studio by a rotating cast of musicial collaborators. Currently the band consists of Justin Rice (vocals, guitar), Christian Rudder (guitar), Darbie Nowatka-Rice (keyboards, violin), Keith Poulson (bass) and Michael Tapper (drums). Tapper is a former member of the indie rock band We Are Scientists.

The band takes its name from Bishop Allen Drive in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where the two lived together after college and has released three albums, "Charm School" (2003), "The Broken String" (2007) and "Grrr..." (2009).

Charm School (2003)

Charm School was Bishop Allen's first record. Recorded in fits and starts over two years, it grew song-by-song as Rice and Rudder wrote and played in their spare time. They recorded all the instruments on the album's 13 songs themselves, using drum loops to hide the fact that neither is a drummer, and almost everything on the record was recorded one track at a time in an ordinary bedroom. Backing vocals by Bonnie Schiff-Glenn and Kate Dollenmayer and supplementary drums by Coll Anderson, all added in the album's final stages, completed the songs.

The EP Project (2006)

In 2006, Bishop Allen recorded and released an EP every month of the year. Each record was titled for the month of its release (January, February, and so on), and, with the exception of August, which was a 14-song live disc, each contained four new studio songs.

The Broken String (2007)

In November 2006, Bishop Allen signed to Dead Oceans, a new sister label to Secretly Canadian and Jagjaguwar, for a modest advance. They began recording a new record that January, at Blackwatch Studios in Norman, Oklahoma, and delivered it two months later. This is Bishop Allen's first true studio recording and was released by Dead Oceans on July 24, 2007.

Grrr.... (2009)

Released in March 2009, this doesn't stray from Bishop Allen's specific brand of lovely indie pop.

Cue the Elephants
Bishop Allen Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

The morning belonged to the grapefruit
Ripe in the gold Rome sun
I throw out the rind
It's just bitter to me
Done, done, done.

The skyline is made of the umbrella pine
And I wish we could climb everyone

But all I could see in the shape of the streets
Done, done, done.

Cue the elephants!
The torches they light in the woods
Can you and me save the city?
I thought that we promised we would.
But you've got your hands in your pockets
And you can't look me in the eye
And now for that eternal question:
Why? Why? Why?

And then he would look at those starlings
Together they swoop down as one
He'd read in that dizzy ellipsis
Done, done, done.

We dangle our legs in the fountains
The pail is red and on
The aqueduct water is ancient
Done, done, done.

Cue the elephants!
The torches they light in the woods
Can you and me save the city?
I thought that we promised we would.
But you've got your hands in your pockets
And you can't look me in the eye
And now for that eternal question:
Why? Why? Why?

La la-laa
La luh-laa
La la-la la la
La luh-laa

La luh-laa
La la-la la la laa-uhh.

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Bishop Allen's Cue the Elephants evoke a sense of longing and disappointment as the singer struggles to understand the choices made by a companion. The first verse sets the scene, with the singer enjoying the morning sun and the taste of a grapefruit, but feeling bitter about the discarded rind. This metaphorical bitterness carries through to the next verse, as the singer looks out over the skyline of the city and wishes they could scale the rooftops. Instead, all they can see is the "shape of the streets" - a reminder that the city is full of obstacles and limitations.

The chorus, "Cue the elephants!", is an exhortation to take action and save the city, but it is clear that the singer's companion is reluctant to join in. This leads to a sense of frustration and confusion, which is expressed in the final verse. The starlings that the singer watches with their companion swoop down in unison, an echo of the cooperation that the singer longs for. But the ellipsis that follows the mention of the starlings suggests that this moment of unity is fleeting, leaving the singer feeling adrift. They seek solace in the ancient water of the aqueduct and the soothing repetition of "done, done, done" but the unanswered question - "Why?" - still hangs heavy.

Overall, Cue the Elephants is a song about yearning for connection and meaning in a world that can feel overwhelming and isolating. The elephants represent a call to action and a hope for change, but the hesitation of the companion (who is never explicitly defined) suggests that this change may be hard-won.

Line by Line Meaning

The morning belonged to the grapefruit
The singer starts his day with grapefruit which is ripe and shining under the Rome sun.

Ripe in the gold Rome sun
The grapefruit is perfectly ripe and has a yellow-orange color that shines under the sun in Rome.

I throw out the rind
The singer discards the outer layer of the grapefruit because it is just bitter to him and has no value.

It's just bitter to me
The outer layer of the grapefruit is bitter and unpleasant to the artist.

Done, done, done.
The process of eating the grapefruit and discarding the rind is completed and the artist moves on to the next activity.

The skyline is made of the umbrella pine
The city skyline is dominated by the umbrella pine trees which are tall and distinctive.

And I wish we could climb everyone
The singer admires the beauty of the pine trees and wishes to climb all of them to enjoy the view.

But all I could see in the shape of the streets
The artist is unable to fully appreciate the beauty of the trees because of the monotonous layout of the streets.

Cue the elephants!
The artist calls for the entrance of elephants who symbolize strength and power.

The torches they light in the woods
The torches are lit in the woods to provide light and lead the way for something or someone.

Can you and me save the city?
The singer asks their partner if they can work together to save the city from danger or decay.

I thought that we promised we would.
The artist believed they had made a promise with their partner to save the city together.

But you've got your hands in your pockets
The singer notices that their partner is not taking any action and instead keeps their hands in their pockets.

And you can't look me in the eye
The singer's partner avoids eye contact, possibly feeling guilty about breaking their promise.

And now for that eternal question:
The singer is preparing to ask their partner a fundamental and timeless question.

Why? Why? Why?
The artist is frustrated and wants to know why their partner is not keeping their promise and taking action to save the city.

And then he would look at those starlings
The artist refers to a third character who looks at a flock of starlings.

Together they swoop down as one
The singer admires the way that the starlings fly together in a coordinated and graceful manner.

He'd read in that dizzy ellipsis
The singer suggests that the third character is reading something, possibly a poem or a book with many incomplete sentences.

We dangle our legs in the fountains
The artist and their partner are sitting near a fountain and dipping their legs in the water.

The pail is red and on
There is a red bucket nearby, possibly used to collect water from the fountain.

The aqueduct water is ancient
The water that flows through the fountain comes from an ancient aqueduct, highlighting the history and legacy of the city.

La la-laa
The singer vocalizes a melody without any specific lyrics.

La luh-laa
The singer vocalizes another melody without any specific lyrics.

La la-la la la
The singer repeats the first melody several times.

La luh-laa
The singer repeats the second melody one last time.

La la-la la la laa-uhh.
The singer repeats the first melody one last time with an extended note.

Contributed by Ethan J. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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