Your name is mostly the first thing people find out about you as an individual. Names, titles, and appearances become important when someone doesn’t know you and meets you for the first time. In the music world, bands attract their first listeners mainly with the name of their band and their songs. In the new age, huge importance is given to this concept, and many bands come up with strange and intriguing names for themselves and their music.
When it comes to Cage the Elephant, though, the band’s name is a hard pickle to figure out. The name is simple and seems very clear, but ‘You can drive all night, looking for the answers in the pouring rain’ because the band gives different meanings every time they are asked. Today, we will be collecting all these meanings together and solving the puzzle behind this mystery.
Firstly, the founders of the band, Matt and Brad Shultz, brothers, apparently had an uncle who was missing a finger. They would ask him what happened, and each time they did, he would give a different answer. This seems to be the concept the band is sticking to when it comes to explaining where ‘Cage the Elephant’ came from. They came up with a lot of brilliant stories that would explain the meaning behind the name.
Story One
Matt Shultz responded to this question during an interview with Spin in 2010. He recalled how a homeless person came up to him screaming, ‘You have to cage the elephant.’ He explained that the person had mental health issues and chased him for a while until Matt couldn’t make it to the car as the rest of the band did. He stated that he got inspired to name the band after this event.
Story Two
Yes, fortune-tellers were and still are a thing that people go to seeking advice or curiosity about their lives. Matt apparently needed some too, so he visited a fortune-teller. The woman was looking at tarot cards for the musician, and once she drew one, she started to panic and scream, ‘Cage the Elephant!’ Shultz got freaked out, and he left the place quickly and then decided to name the band after this experience.
Stories Three, Four, Five, And Six
There are more little stories about the meaning of Cage the Elephant, which Matt revealed over the years. Once he said that the name came to him in a dream, which is a very classic way to be inspired. Another time he said that he was eating alphabet noodle soup, and when he looked down at his food, he saw ‘Cage the Elephant.’ Finally, he said he just read the phrase on the back of a cereal box.
By now, you must have realized that the band will never reveal the real reason, and even if they do, it’ll just be a part of the stories Matt told throughout the years, and not many people would believe them. However, if you want to solve the mystery, at least within your mind, we can give you some advice.
‘Elephant’ is used in the phrase ‘Elephant in the room,’ which describes an unspoken, tense subject that is big and impossible to ignore in an environment. By caging this elephant in the room you not only acknowledge its existence, but also take control of the situation and capture it.
