How a verbal miscue spawned a video and a giant snow sculpture in tiny N.B. village
CBC
It all started with a verbal misunderstanding that led to the creation of a song.
And then a music video.
And now a 16-foot-tall snow sculpture.
Marc LeBlanc, also known as Marc à Paul à Jos, said he wrote the song, The Elephant from Neguac, after he visited the village in northeastern New Brunswick and ran into a resident who recognized him.
During their chat, "She actually asked if I had gone to see Hays Island, or l'île-aux-foins," he said.
But, LeBlanc thought he heard the French pronunciation of the word elephant — l'éléphant.
"My French accent is different from theirs so sometimes people have difficulty understanding me, but I also have difficulty understanding others," said LeBlanc, who is from Digby, Nova Scotia.
LeBlanc said he eventually figured out that there wasn't actually an elephant in the village, but he thought it was a funny story and decided to write a song about it.
He released a music video on Dec. 19, which follows LeBlanc on a comical search to find this elephant.
In the video, a purple elephant is seen taking a selfie in front of Neguac's oyster sculpture, hiding behind the village's lighthouse and eating ice cream from the Neguac Dairy Bar.
The video drew the attention of Neguac residents, as well as from people as far away as France.
"They just absolutely love it, I'm surprised at how much they like it," said LeBlanc.
Neguac Mayor Georges Savoie said LeBlanc's song quickly caught on in the village.
A restaurant, Chez Raymond, began selling elephant ears in honour of the song, which is a dish of fried dough coated in cinnamon and sugar.
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