17 Pink Sugar Elephants

Although there is overlap with imagination and mental illness, the song seems to be about psychedelics, considering the decade written and that pink elephants could refer to the "Pink Elephants On Parade" scene in Dumbo.

Seventeen fits the syllables required and is prime. Prime numbers are “weird” due to their lack of factors and, except for two, are odd in the mathematical sense. The only factors of seventeen are one and seventeen, the way that only the one narrator sees the seventeen elephants.

Elephants are uncommon and are never pink, adding to the strangeness of attempting to communicate with an animal. That the elephants are sugar is unusual, since the narrator doesn’t eat them, unless they only appear to be or she has drug-induced synesthesia, where senses are combined, such as tasting images. LSD can be ingested sublingually on blotters or sugar cubes. If the elephants represent this “treat", the narrator represents the child, is connecting with her inner child, or in general, users of psychedelics access imagination and freedom typically limited in adults, becoming children.

Except for the chestnut tree, which could be part of the hallucination, there isn’t much about the setting, almost as if in a void. Assuming that the narrator is outside, if it is autumn and the sun has not risen, she is alone in the dark and cold, but pink and sugar create a pleasant atmosphere. The absence of discomfort and location emphasizes the mental space instead of physical reality.

Another theme is the ephemeral. Pink is light red, therefore “weaker” than other colors. Sugar, though a preservative that takes a long time to spoil, dissolves easily whether in a powdered or hardened form. Bunyan’s voice is breathy and quiet, complemented by the plain instrumentation. The song is less than two minutes long. Autumn is known for beauty from living things passing their prime and dying, such as leaves and harvest crops. The elephants being “factory made” evokes commercialism and industrialism, contrasting with the whimsical, natural descriptions. They are compared to mass-produced goods that are used and disposed of. The elephants will be gone after the hallucination fades, the children will eat the treats. Childhood is the period in life most quickly over and forgotten, particularly the earliest years. There are more child-like elements. The tune and rhymes are simple, some lyrics are juvenile. “He had two eyes” and "He had four legs” resemble lines from a book for teaching kids how to read or count. The sense of magic is characteristic of children. The narrator, aware that everything will end, accepts and enjoys the moment - “And so we just sat”, rather than worrying about the elephants not speaking or about being productive.

Beautiful, mysterious...

This sounds like a song about a pyschedelic experience. The scenario just seems like one of those early anti-LSD shown in 1970's health class. The whole --- > "Each had two eyes but they couldn’t see me there Each had four legs but they couldn’t go anywhere And so we just sat That early autumn morning Sun not yet risen and magic everywhere" seems like a trippy time she had trippin on Easter haha.