Effervescing Elephant
Syd Barrett Lyrics

An effervescing elephant
A lively and bubbly elephant

With tiny eyes, and great big trunk
An elephant with small eyes but a large trunk

Once whispered to the tiny ears
The elephant secretly spoke to small ears

The ears of one inferior
The elephant spoke to someone he deemed lower or less significant

That by next June he'd die, oh yeah!
The elephant informed the person that he will die by next June

Because the tiger would roam
The reason for the elephant's death is because a tiger would roam

And the little one said oh my goodness I must stay at home
The listener responded by worrying and feeling the need to stay at home

And every time I hear a growl
Whenever a growl is heard

I'll know the tiger's on the prowl
The listener will be aware that the tiger is hunting

but I'll be really safe you know
Despite the danger, the listener believes they will be safe

The elephant he told me so
This belief is based on what the elephant told them

And everyone was nervy, oh yeah!
Everyone was nervous about the tiger's presence

And the message was spread
The information about the tiger's presence was communicated

To zebra, mongoose, and the dirty hippopotamus
The message was relayed to various animals including a zebra, mongoose, and hippopotamus

Who wallowed in the mud and chewed
The hippopotamus was found lounging in the mud while eating

His spicy hippo plankton food
The hippopotamus was eating his favorite spicy aquatic plants

And tended to ignore the word
The hippopotamus chose to not take the warning seriously

Preferring to survey a herd
The hippopotamus decided to observe a group of animals instead

Of stupid water bison, oh yeah!
The hippopotamus found the herd of buffalo to be unintelligent

And all the jungle took fright
The entire jungle became afraid

And ran around for all the day and the night
Animals were running around frantically to escape the danger

But all in vain because you see
Despite their efforts, it was all for nothing

The tiger came and said who me,
The tiger arrived and asked innocently, 'Who, me?'

You know I wouldn't hurt not one of you
The tiger promised not to harm any of the animals

I much prefer something to chew
However, the tiger revealed its true nature and preference for meat

and You're all too scant, oh yeah!
The animals were too thin for the tiger's liking

He ate the elephant
In the end, the elephant was devoured by the tiger