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.

Dirt on Your New Shoes
Bishop Allen Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Anything we should know about your change? \
Take the shells that you've collected
Sow them with your favorite silver thread
Now you jingle, now you rattle with every step
Skeletons upon the stairway
Showing up the teeth inside their heads
Is it you or are they laughing at what you said?

And when the day came,
You had the same name,
You let your town down
Town down
Way down

And when the day came,
You had the same name
You let your town down
Town down
Way down

(Breakdown)

In the dark and down the hillside
Run until you cannot catch your breath
Get the band to play a love song...at your request
Smell the cinnamon and chocolates
Marigolds: yellow, pink and red
On the ground you spread a blanket to be your bed

And when the day came,
You had the same name
You let your town down
Town down
Way down

And when the day came,
You had the same name
You let your town down
Town down
Way down

And when you, when you, get on your new shoes
You turn your town down, way down

Overall Meaning

In the lyrics of Bishop Allen's "Dirt on Your New Shoes," the singer seems to be addressing someone who has undergone a change. They advise the person to take the shells they have collected and sow them with silver thread, creating something new from the old. The person now jingles and rattles with every step, drawing attention to themselves. The imagery of skeletons on a stairway, showing the teeth inside their heads, suggests that people are judging the person for their change. The singer wonders if the person is laughing with them or if they are laughing at what the person said.

The second verse paints a picture of someone running down a hillside, presumably running away from something. They request a love song from the band and spread a blanket on the ground to rest. The last verse brings the song full circle, repeating the same lines from the beginning. The day has come and the person has done nothing but let their town down. The repetition of the phrase "you had the same name" implies that the person has not changed much, if at all.

Overall, the lyrics of "Dirt on Your New Shoes" seem to be addressing themes of change and judgment. The singer encourages the listener to embrace change, but warns that others may not be so accepting.

Line by Line Meaning

Take the shells that you've collected
Collect the remnants of your past experiences

Sow them with your favorite silver thread
Weave those experiences together with joy and hope

Now you jingle, now you rattle with every step
Every action you take has an echo of your past

Skeletons upon the stairway
Past mistakes and failures still haunt you

Showing up the teeth inside their heads
Those past failures reveal their ugly secrets

Is it you or are they laughing at what you said?
It's hard to tell if they're mocking you or themselves

In the dark and down the hillside
You're in a dark place, both physically and emotionally

Run until you cannot catch your breath
You're trying to escape from your problems

Get the band to play a love song...at your request
You're seeking comfort in something familiar

Smell the cinnamon and chocolates
Savor the good things in life

Marigolds: yellow, pink and red
The beauty of life still exists, despite your struggles