"Nellie the Elephant" is a

children's song A children's song may be a nursery rhyme set to music, a song that children invent and share among themselves or a modern creation intended for entertainment, use in the home or education. Although children's songs have been recorded and studie ...

written in 1956 by Ralph Butler and Peter Hart about a fictional

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics to ...

elephant Elephants are the largest living land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant ('' Loxodonta africana''), the African forest elephant (''L. cyclotis''), and the Asian elephant ('' Elephas maximus ...

of that name.

Original version

The original version, released on

Parlophone Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 1923 as the Parloph ...

R 4219 in October 1956, was recorded by English child actress

Mandy Miller Mandy Miller (born Carmen Isabella Miller on 23 July 1944) is an English former child actress who made a number of films in the 1950s. She is also remembered for her recording of the 1956 song " Nellie the Elephant". Early life Carmen Isabella M ...

with an orchestra conducted by Phil Cardew. It was arranged by

Ron Goodwin Ronald Alfred Goodwin (17 February 19258 January 2003) was an English composer and conductor known for his film music. He scored over 70 films in a career lasting over fifty years. His most famous works included ''Where Eagles Dare'', ''Battle ...

and produced by

George Martin Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the "fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the Beatle ...

. Although never a hit single, it was played countless times on BBC national radio in the UK in the 1950s and 1960s, particularly on ''

Children's Favourites ''Junior Choice'' is a BBC Radio programme originally broadcast from 1954 until 1982 with Christmas specials from 2007 to present, with the exception of 2016. Originally broadcast on the BBC Light Programme on Saturday mornings from 9.10 to 9.55 ...

''. The

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song), the part of a song that is repeated several times, usually after each verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in whic ...

of the song is as follows: :Nellie the Elephant packed her trunk :And said goodbye to the circus :Off she went with a trumpety-trump :Trump, trump, trump Children's author

Jacqueline Wilson Dame Jacqueline Wilson (' Aitken; born 17 December 1945) is an English novelist known for her popular children's literature. Her novels have been notable for tackling realistic topics such as adoption and divorce. Since her debut novel in 1969, ...

chose the song as one of her ''

Desert Island Discs ''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942. Each week a guest, called a " castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight audio recordin ...

'' in October 2005.

Later versions

*The

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

band

Toy Dolls The Toy Dolls are an English punk rock band formed in 1979. They are best known for their sole UK hit, a punk-rock cover of " Nellie the Elephant". The Toy Dolls' songs expressed a sense of fun, such as "Yul Brynner Was a Skinhead", "My Girlfr ...

did a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of this song, in 1982, which was later released on the 1983 album '' Dig That Groove Baby''. Issued as a single, it reached No. 4 on the UK Singles Chart in 1984 and No. 97 in Australia.

Tempo

The

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...

of this song is often used to teach people the correct speed to perform

cardiopulmonary resuscitation Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an emergency procedure used during Cardiac arrest, cardiac or Respiratory arrest, respiratory arrest that involves chest compressions, often combined with artificial ventilation, to preserve brain function ...

(CPR). The recommended rate for CPR is 100 chest compressions per minute. A study at

Coventry University Coventry University is a Public university, public research university in Coventry, England. The origins of Coventry University can be linked to the Coventry School of Art and Design, Coventry School of Design in 1843. It was known as Lancheste ...

compared the effectiveness of this song in maintaining this tempo with an alternative of "

That's the Way (I Like It) "That's the Way (I Like It)" is a song by American disco and funk band KC and the Sunshine Band from their self-titled second studio album (1975). The single became the band's second No. 1 hit in the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and it is one of the ...

" and no song at all. The version used for the study was from a Little Acorns brand children's record, and was found to have a tempo of 105 beats per minute. Singing the chorus of the song twice, with a compression on each beat, results in exactly 30 compressions, which is the international standard for CPR. The use of "Nellie" resulted in correct timing for 42 out of 130 cases, as compared with 15 for no music and just 12 for "That's the Way (I Like It)". However, the depth of compression was found to be inadequate in most of those cases, and the use of "Nellie" was found to increase this inadequacy slightly, as compared with the use of no music (56% too shallow with "Nellie" and 47% without).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nellie The Elephant 1956 songs 1956 singles 1984 singles 1990 singles Toy Dolls songs Parlophone singles UK Independent Singles Chart number-one singles English children's songs Songs about elephants Songs about fictional female characters Song recordings produced by George Martin Songs with lyrics by Ralph Butler Radio theme songs Animated series theme songs Children's television theme songs Fictional characters introduced in 1956