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.
That Summer
Bishop Allen Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
That the beetles had scarred with their dreaded disease
And so many tears poured right out of your head
Stained the big pillow on your mothers bed
That evening you snuck in a passionate kiss
Beneath the old bandstand and your lovers lips
Where all honey suckle and slippery teeth
And together you laughed in the darkening breeze
That fourth of July, you giggled and waved
The jewel of the float in the big town parade
Look at this picture, there's no evidence
That you didn't feel right, and never have since
The song "That Summer" by Bishop Allen narrates a summer tale that feels bittersweet and nostalgic. The opening lines describe how the trees marked with the beetles' disease were cut with a chainsaw. From this scene, the song takes us on a journey to explore the emotions of two lovers who share a clandestine affair. The lyrics mention how the singer shed tears that stained her mother's pillow. The emotions are raw, and the line suggests that the singer wept in sorrow, probably because the tree cutting mirrors the destruction of something meaningful in her life.
Later, we witness a love story that blooms beneath an old bandstand in the park. The lyrics emphasize the imagery of "honey suckle" and "slippery teeth," which might point to innocence and passion meeting in the throes of young love. In the fourth of July, the singer felt a burst of joy as they rode the float, giggling and waving in the big parade. But the final lines of the lyrics hint that something is off. The singer says that despite the picture evidence of how happy they looked, they never felt right and never have since. This melancholic undertone suggests that something about that summer has forever changed the singer, and she can never go back to feeling the same way.
Overall, "That Summer" invites us to look at a small sliver of someone's life, a few months in summer, but it carries more significant emotional weight. The song talks about innocence, loss, love, and the bittersweet realization that life won't always be the same.
Line by Line Meaning
That summer they came to chainsaw the trees
The summer when loggers had to come and cut down the diseased trees affected by beetles.
That the beetles had scarred with their dreaded disease
The trees were damaged by beetles and their disease was a serious threat to the environment and so had to be removed.
And so many tears poured right out of your head
You were so upset that your tears flowed uncontrollably.
Stained the big pillow on your mothers bed
The tears you shed left a permanent stain on your mother's pillow.
That evening you snuck in a passionate kiss
One night you managed to sneak in a kiss, which was full of passion.
Beneath the old bandstand and your lovers lips
The kiss took place under an old bandstand with your lover's lips pressed against yours.
Where all honey suckle and slippery teeth
The setting was full of fragrant flowers and your lover's teeth felt slippery and smooth against your lips.
And together you laughed in the darkening breeze
You both shared a laugh in the darkening evening air, which was slightly breezy.
That fourth of July, you giggled and waved
On the Fourth of July, you were joyful and waved at everyone.
The jewel of the float in the big town parade
You were the best float in the parade, and everyone seemed to love it.
Look at this picture, there's no evidence
Looking at the picture, there's no sign that anything was ever wrong.
That you didn't feel right, and never have since
Although you didn't feel happy at the time, it seems that everything's okay now but still, you feel something isn't right since then.
Lyrics © ROUGH TRADE PUBLISHING, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Christian Rudder, Justin Rice
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind