12) Pink Elephant

Shot no.: 12
Song title: Pink Elephant
Style: 50’s Soul
Special guest star: Elephas maximus roseus

“Seeing pink elephants” is a euphemism for having drunken hallucinations. I remember watching this cartoon as a kid about a tiny elephant’s adventures in the world. One short scene in the episode features a drunk guy (they’re always hiccuping in cartoons) who stumbles across the small elephant. The drunk guy, instead of being shocked like everyone else who sees the tiny creature, tells the elephant, “You’re late.” Then he says to himself, “He always used to be pink.” Little did I know that I would someday grow up to be as awesome as that guy.

That’s not the only cartoon, and mine isn’t the only song, that references pink elephants. In Disney’s “Dumbo”, Dumbo gets smashed (yes, for real) before the song “Pink Elephants on Parade”. A pink elephant drawing is also on the label of the Belgian ale called Delerium Tremens. I used a bottle of it for a demonstration in this video. Though, I don’t suggest doing a power hour with Delerium because it’s an Aretha Franklin kind of beer. Heavy, strong and expensive.

Pink elephants actually exist in real life, though! And I swear I’m not writing this wasted. . . at least not this specific article. Anyway, albino elephants are pink!

This song originally had a section where I covered “Baby Elephant Walk” by Henry Mancini but that didn’t make it into the final version. I love the concept of drinking so your cute little elephant friend won’t disappear. You don’t want to be a pink elephant killer, do you?

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