Pink Elephants is Mick Harvey's second album of Serge Gainsbourg covers, released in 1997.[4][5]

Pink Elephants
Studio album by
Released27 October 1997
GenreRock
Length46:45
LabelMute[1]
ProducerMick Harvey with Victor Van Vugt and Tony Cohen
Mick Harvey chronology
Intoxicated Man
(1995)
Pink Elephants
(1997)
One Man's Treasure
(2005)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Entertainment WeeklyB[3]

Critical reception

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Entertainment Weekly wrote that "Harvey’s English versions of Gainsbourg songs maintain the latter’s lounge-lizard perversions, hilarious existential angst, and theatrical grandeur."[3] Trouser Press called "I Love You...Nor Do I", the Anita Lane and Nick Cave duet, "erotic" and "the album’s centerpiece."[6]

Track listing

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All tracks composed by Serge Gainsbourg, except where indicated.

  1. "Pink Elephants" (Mick Harvey, Bertrand Burgalat) – 2:35
  2. "Requiem. . ." (Gainsbourg, Michel Colombier) (translation: Larry Norman, Pierre Gottfried Imhof, & Harvey) – 2:35
  3. "The Javanaise" (translation: Harvey) – 2:30
  4. "Black Seaweed" (translation: Norman, Imhof, & Harvey) – 2:21
  5. "Comic Strip" (translation: Bill Soly) – 2:42
  6. "The Ticket Puncher" (translation: Harvey & Alain Chamberlain) – 2:50
  7. "Non Affair" (translation: Norman, Imhof, & Harvey) – 2:30
  8. "Scenic Railway" (translation: by Norman, Imhof, & Harvey) – 2:52
  9. "To All the Lucky Kids" (translation: Norman, Imhof, & Harvey) – 3:53
  10. "Anthracite" (translation: Norman, Imhof, & Harvey) – 2:20
  11. "Manon" (translation: Norman, Imhof, & Harvey) – 2:20
  12. "I Love You...Nor Do I" (Harvey) – 4:38
  13. "The Ballad of Melody Nelson" (Gainsbourg, Jean-Claude Vannier) (translation: Sarah Owen & Harvey) – 1:56
  14. "Torrey Canyon" (translation: Owen & Harvey) – 3:12
  15. "Who Is 'In' Who Is 'Out'" (translation: Harvey & Chamberlain) – 3:14
  16. "Hotel Specific" (Gainsbourg, Jean-Claude Vannier) (translation: Harvey, Katy Beale, & Chamberlain) – 3:42

Personnel

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  • Mick Harvey – vocals, guitar, bass
  • Anita Lane – vocals on "I Love You...Nor Do I" and "The Ballad of Melody Nelson"
  • Nick Cave – vocals on "I Love You...Nor Do I"
  • Chris Hughes – drums
  • Nick Burton – violin
  • Steve Bentley-Klein – violin
  • James Cruickshank – organ, vocals
  • David McClymont – bass
  • Loene Carmen – backing vocals on "Torrey Canyon" and "Who Is 'In' Who Is 'Out'"
  • Monica McMahon – backing vocals on "Torrey Canyon" and "Who Is 'In' Who Is 'Out'"
  • Abigail Trundle – cello
  • Bertrand Burgalat – string arrangements
  • Kiernan Box – accordion on "The Javanaise"
  • Eleanor Gilchrist – violin
  • Theresa Whipple – viola
  • Jeremy Morris – violin
  • Sarah Beardsley- guitar

Technical

  • P.A. Taylor - sleeve layout
  • Katy Beale - photography

References

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  1. ^ Schurr, Maria (11 July 2014). "Mick Harvey: Intoxicated Man / Pink Elephants, PopMatters".
  2. ^ "Pink Elephants - Mick Harvey | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic" – via www.allmusic.com.
  3. ^ a b "Pink Elephants". EW.com.
  4. ^ "Mick Harvey Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic.
  5. ^ Kaufman, Gil. "Bad Seeds' Mick Harvey And The Pink Elephants". MTV News. Archived from the original on 6 January 2022.
  6. ^ "Mick Harvey". Trouser Press. Retrieved 6 January 2022.