L Elephant
Tom Tom Club Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
(Se) Sont déguisés en hommes.
(Ils) Ont marché au beau village,
Marché, marché, marché, marché.
Sur le chemin, (ils) ont rencontré
Des enfants des hommes,
Et des femmes qui courraient
Tout en courrant, les femmes pleuraient
Pleuraient des grosses larmes
Grosses gouttes, grosses larmes
Tombaient, tombaient, tombaient, tombaient.
L'éléphant et l'hippopotame
Voulaient savoir ce qu'elles avaient
Voulaient savoir la raison qu'elles
Pleuraient, pleuraient, pleuraient, pleuraient.
Un enfant, tout terrifié,
S'est arrêté pour leur parler.
Sa bouche ouvrait, mais il est resté
Muet, muet, muet, muet.
Enlevez vos costumes bêtes,
Leur chantaient les oiseaux.
Gobe-mouches pipits, chouettes et hiboux
Chantaient, chantaient, chantaient, chantaient:
C'est la guerre, la guerre des hommes.
Ils se sont disputés.
Tout autour, ils veulent tuer,
Tuer, tuer, tuer, tuer.
Tuer, tuer, tuer, tuer.
Tuer, tuer, tuer, tuer.
Tuer, tuer, tuer, tuer.
Tuer, tuer, tuer, tuer.
The Tom Tom Club's song Elephant is a story about a pair of animals, an elephant and a hippopotamus, who disguise themselves as human beings and go for a walk in the village. During their stroll, they come across women and children running and crying. The animals become curious and want to know why they are in distress. An anxious child finally speaks up, but he is too terrified to say anything. The animals hear a group of singing birds offer a cryptic message about war between humans and their desire to kill. The chorus repeats the word "kill" many times to emphasize the violence and chaos of the situation.
In this song, the elephant and hippopotamus represent the innocent bystanders caught up in the violence of war, and the song exposes the horrors that come with the human desire for dominance and conflict. The frightened children and women represent the innocent victims of the war. The lyrics also imply that sometimes even those who are not directly involved in a conflict can be harmed or affected by it. The animals' confusion and curiosity further illustrate the senseless aspect of the violence and destruction caused by human conflict.
Overall, the Tom Tom Club's Elephant is a poignant and relatable commentary on the universal effects of war and violence, and it speaks to the need for compassion and understanding in times of conflict.
Line by Line Meaning
L'éléphant et l'hippopotame
The elephant and the hippopotamus
(Se) Sont déguisés en hommes.
(have) disguised themselves as humans.
(Ils) Ont marché au beau village,
(They) walked to the beautiful village,
Marché, marché, marché, marché.
walked, walked, walked, walked.
Sur le chemin, (ils) ont rencontré
On the way, (they) met
Des enfants des hommes,
children of men,
Et des femmes qui courraient
and women who ran,
Courraient, courraient, courraient, courraient.
ran, ran, ran, ran.
Tout en courrant, les femmes pleuraient
While running, the women were crying,
Pleuraient des grosses larmes
crying big tears,
Grosses gouttes, grosses larmes
big drops, big tears
Tombaient, tombaient, tombaient, tombaient.
falling, falling, falling, falling.
L'éléphant et l'hippopotame
The elephant and the hippopotamus
Voulaient savoir ce qu'elles avaient
wanted to know what they had,
Voulaient savoir la raison qu'elles
wanted to know the reason why they
Pleuraient, pleuraient, pleuraient, pleuraient.
were crying, crying, crying, crying.
Un enfant, tout terrifié,
a terrified child,
S'est arrêté pour leur parler.
stopped to talk to them.
Sa bouche ouvrait, mais il est resté
His mouth opened, but he remained
Muet, muet, muet, muet.
silent, silent, silent, silent.
Enlevez vos costumes bêtes,
Take off your animal costumes,
Leur chantaient les oiseaux.
the birds sang to them.
Gobe-mouches pipits, chouettes et hiboux
Flycatchers, pipits, owls and nightjars
Chantaient, chantaient, chantaient, chantaient:
sang, sang, sang, sang:
C'est la guerre, la guerre des hommes.
It's war, men's war.
Ils se sont disputés.
They argued.
Tout autour, ils veulent tuer,
All around, they want to kill,
Tuer, tuer, tuer, tuer.
Kill, kill, kill, kill.
Tuer, tuer, tuer, tuer.
Kill, kill, kill, kill.
Tuer, tuer, tuer, tuer.
Kill, kill, kill, kill.
Tuer, tuer, tuer, tuer.
Kill, kill, kill, kill.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: CHRISTOPHER FRANTZ, STEVEN J.C. STANLEY, LANI C. WEYMOUTH, LAURA ELIZABETH WEYMOUTH, TINA WEYMOUTH
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@fossie32
MEKON91
THE ELEPHANT (translation into English)
The elephant and the hippopotamus
Disguised themselves as men.
They walked to the beautiful village,
Walked, walked, walked, walked
On the path, they met
The children of men
And women, who were running,
Running, running, running, running
As they ran, the women were crying,
Crying fat tears.
Large drops, big fat tears, were
Falling, falling, falling, falling
The elephant and the hippopotamus
Wanted to know what was the matter,
Wanted to know the reason they were
Crying, crying, crying, crying.
A terrified child
Stopped to speak with them.
His mouth opened, but he remained
Mute, mute, mute, mute.
*"Take off your foolish/beastly costumes,"
Sang to them the birds.
**Pipits, screech owls, and owls were
Singing, singing, singing, singing:
"It is war, the war of men.
They have quarreled among themselves.
All around, they want to kill,
Kill, kill, kill, kill"
Kill, kill, kill, kill
Kill, kill, kill, kill
Kill, kill, kill, kill
Kill, kill, kill, kill
@brianbeveridge6965
this album has been with me since i was 20 , i am now 53..never got sick of listening to it
@mrscorpio5967
+brian beveridge The same for me on both accounts. I used to tool around Detroit with this album blaring out of my tape deck. Later, I bought the CD and did the same.
@CheriCampbellnyc
Looks like I just joined the same club for 53 year old fans. Glad to be here.
-they performed while David Byrne took a 15 minute hiatus from the stage at Forest Hills in Queens NYC back in '83, I bribed an usher to sit on a straight bench for the show, but we didn't spend too much time sitting. It was an August night and we were sweating . Just perfect.
@daedrmr2dae
just translated the lyrics on google... what a shame this song doesn't have more views- it's great on many levels
@MEKON17
what are the lyrics about ?
@fossie32
MEKON91
THE ELEPHANT (translation into English)
The elephant and the hippopotamus
Disguised themselves as men.
They walked to the beautiful village,
Walked, walked, walked, walked
On the path, they met
The children of men
And women, who were running,
Running, running, running, running
As they ran, the women were crying,
Crying fat tears.
Large drops, big fat tears, were
Falling, falling, falling, falling
The elephant and the hippopotamus
Wanted to know what was the matter,
Wanted to know the reason they were
Crying, crying, crying, crying.
A terrified child
Stopped to speak with them.
His mouth opened, but he remained
Mute, mute, mute, mute.
*"Take off your foolish/beastly costumes,"
Sang to them the birds.
**Pipits, screech owls, and owls were
Singing, singing, singing, singing:
"It is war, the war of men.
They have quarreled among themselves.
All around, they want to kill,
Kill, kill, kill, kill"
Kill, kill, kill, kill
Kill, kill, kill, kill
Kill, kill, kill, kill
Kill, kill, kill, kill
@Hundred2
En avance sur leur temps, c'était génial ... et cela n'a pas pris une ride ... elles, un petit peu ... 30 ans après, c'est toujours aussi génial ... et elles sont toujours mignonnes ... ma K7 est complètement usée mais ma pupuce MP3 est là pour la remplacer et çà tourne encore ... bises les filles
@MrBryansseals
very underated band
@frooshante
According to the photograph in this video, Terence McKenna played keys for Tom Tom Club during the production of this album.
@RobertoGinsburg
They was part of the Funky side of Talking Heads.