Effervescing Elephant
(Barrett)

Tuba – Vic Saywell, Arrangement – D Gilmour
RECORDED 14 JULY 1970 (Take 9)
PRODUCED BY DAVE GILMOUR

Bonus Tracks since 1993 Opel
RECORDED 14 JULY 1970 (Take 2)
PRODUCED BY DAVE GILMOUR

2001 Syd Barrett Compilation 'Wouldn't You miss Me?'
(take 9, RS2)
Produced by Syd Barrett and David Gilmour
Basic track recorded 17th July 1970
Tuba and sound effects overdubbed 17th July 1970
Mixed 22nd July 1970
[RS = remix stereo, the number indicating which original mix was finally used.
This is EMI terminology; nothing has been remixed for this CD.
Any sonic differences you may detect come courtesy of original engineer Peter Mew's state-of-the-art remastering.)
Recording details provided by David Parker, author of "Random Precision
- Recording The Music Of Syd Barrett 1965-1974" (Cherry Red Books).

Lyrics
 

An Effervescing Elephant
With tiny eyes and great big trunk
Once whispered to the tiny ear
The ear of one inferior
That by next June he'd die, oh yeah!
Because the tiger would roam.
 

The little one said: "Oh my goodness I must stay at home!
And every time I hear a growl
I'll know the tiger's on the prowl
And I'll be really safe, you know
The elephant he told me so."
Everyone was nervy, oh yeah!
 

And the message was spread
To zebra, mongoose, and the dirty hippopotamus
Who wallowed in the mud and chewed
His spicy hippo-plankton food
And tended to ignore the word
Preferring to survey a herd
Of stupid water bison, oh yeah!
 

And all the jungle took fright,
And ran around for all the day and the night
But all in vain, because, you see,
The tiger came and said: "Who me?!
You know, I wouldn't hurt not one of you.
I'd much prefer something to chew
And you're all to scant." oh yeah!
He ate the Elephant
 

® 1970 Lupus MusicLtd.