Tame Impala’s “Elephant” Lyrics Meaning

by Amanda London· Published January 26, 2022· Updated January 26, 2022

Kevin Parker has explained this song as being about a self-centered “bully”. And Genius has put forth that more specifically, he is speaking to the early goings of his career and interacting with other musical acts who were, most simply put, conceited.

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So the subject of this song is one such individual. And as expected with a Tame Impala tune, the lyrics are rife with metaphors. But what the wording basically boils down to is said subject being too haughty for his own good. This brings us to the titular allegory, i.e. this character believing he’s bigger than everyone else in the room, so to speak.

Even though it isn’t specified that this person is a musician, it does read like he’s some sort of a celebrity. And by the looks of things, he is surrounded by yes people who never truly call him out concerning his faults and mistakes.

So it is very much possible that Parker did base this outing on a specific person(s) that he interacted with or got to know in some capacity. But considering that said individual was likely famous and at the time at least more powerful than Kevin, he wisely concealed who actually served as the inspiration. But that said, the sentiments expressed can probably be applied to a number of celebrity types.

Facts about “Elephant”

“Elephant” was produced and co-written by Tame Impala frontman Kevin Parker. The other co-writer of this song is a semi-official member of the band, Jay Watson.

Parker has noted that this is one of the earliest songs he had written. It has also been pointed out that even though this piece proved to be a notable success, Kevin himself isn’t overly fond of it and has sorta expressed disdain for “Elephant” on more than one occasion.

When was “Elephant” released?

The release date of this song was back on 20 October 2012 via Modular Records. It was the lead single from Impala’s second studio album, “Lonerism”.

Success

The track went platinum in the group’s homeland of Australia. It also fared pretty well stateside, where it appeared on a handful of Billboard charts. In doing so, it peaked at number eight on the Alternative Airplay listing.

Overall “Elephant” is considered to be Tame Impala’s first true hit. And even though its chart showing wasn’t overly impressive in Australia, a couple of institutions based down under recognized it as one of the top songs of its era. For example, the track took home the Song of the Year honors at 2013 APRA Music Awards.

Furthermore, the music video also scored a Video of the Year trophy in 2013. It received this award via the West Australian Music Video Awards.

This song also proved to be a notable critical and streaming success for an Aussie children’s musical act known as The Wiggles. The Wiggles came out with their rendition in early 2021.

“Elephant” entered into the UK Singles Chart. This is in addition to selling over 200,000 copies in the UK.