Elephant (Tame Impala song)

"Elephant"
File:Tame impala elephant.jpg
Single by Tame Impala
from the album Lonerism
Released	28 July 2012
Format	12" single, digital
Genre	Psychedelic rock, alternative rock
Length	3:31
Label	Modular
Writer(s)	Kevin Parker, Jay Watson
Producer(s)	Kevin Parker
Tame Impala singles chronology
"Why Won't You Make Up Your Mind?" (2011) "Elephant" (2012) "Feels Like We Only Go Backwards" (2012)

"Elephant" is a song by Australian psychedelic rock band Tame Impala. It was released as a single from their second album Lonerism on 26 July 2012. Said lead singer Kevin Parker of the song:

Elephant is actually one of the oldest songs that I have, it's just been in the vaults this whole time. I'm not sure why we never recorded it before, but we were just playing it at a sound check one night and everyone in the band was like, 'We should just put this on the album', and so we did.

— Kevin Parker

"Elephant" features a bluesier side of Tame Impala, heard more frequently on their EP, as the song was written around that stage. Because it was written around that time, "Elephant" is "an anomaly on Lonerism. There are no other songs that have that bluesy riffing".

The cover artwork was designed by Leif Podhajsky.

Awards

• Appeared at #7 on Triple J's Hottest 100 for 2012.
• Won Best Song at the EG Music Awards
• Zane Lowe declared it the "Hottest Record in the World" for 26 July 2012.
• The song won Song of the Year at the APRA Music Awards in 2013.

TV/Film appearances

"Elephant" has a number of appearances in television and film, including:

• advertisements for the Blackberry Z10;
• the season 2 finale of Girls;
• the film The Fifth Estate;
• the season 5 episode of The Vampire Diaries titled "Handle With Care" and the season 1 episode of its spin-off, The Originals, titled "The Big Uneasy";
• the season 4 episode of Covert Affairs titled "Levitate Me".
• the season 3 episode of Bates Motel titled "Persuasion".
• The movie version of Entourage.

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Chart (2013)	Peak position
Australia (ARIA)	77
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)	131
US Hot Rock Songs (Billboard)	36
US Rock Airplay (Billboard)	12
US Alternative Songs (Billboard)	8
US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)	40

Year-end charts

Chart (2013)	Position
US Hot Rock Songs (Billboard)	89
US Rock Airplay (Billboard)	33
US Alternative Songs (Billboard)	24