11 Of The Best Songs About Frogs

Written by Dan Farrant
Last updated

When we think of songs about frogs, we think of children’s songs. Maybe we think of Kermit the Muppet. Or even the frog prince.

But there’s more variety to tunes about frogs than that suggests. And these songs are proof that frogs are more popular than we give them credit for.

In fact, we were able to find “ribbiting” songs that celebrate these green amphibians. So what are you waiting for? Keep reading to find out 11 of the best songs about frogs.

1. “Bein’ Green” By Ray Charles

Everyone knows this song about frogs. “Being Green” was famously first sung by Kermit the Frog, voiced by Ray Charles. Since then, many musical greats have sung the piece.

Despite its playful origins, the song grapples with the difficulties of being or feeling different. Initially, Kermit worries that his green color causes him to get overlooked.

Ultimately, “Bein’ Green” is an optimistic froggy anthem. By the end of the song, Kermit remembers all the many important things that are as green as he is. The song is a vehicle to teach kids the importance of embracing the qualities that make them unique.

2. “Every Frog Has His Day” By Lou Reed

In 2003, Lou Reed produced one of his most eclectic albums, The Raven. It features some songs with frogs in the title. “Every Frog Has Its Day” is one of them.

Reed’s frog is a metaphorical one. Like the album title, this song owes a heavy debt to gothic writer Edgar Allan Poe. In the song, the frog stands in for a court jester with dwarfism.

It’s an exceptionally odd song, often sounding more like a Socratic dialogue than a musical composition. But Reed turns in an arresting performance no stranger than the Poe short story that inspired it.

3. “I’m In Love With A Big Blue Frog” By Peter, Paul, and Mary

The American folk group Peter, Paul, and Mary recorded “I’m In Love With a Big Blue Frog” at the height of their career. On the surface, it’s a silly, if slightly odd little tune about loving frogs.

Here the lyrics take a turn for the serious. Because the frog in question is blue, many listeners view this song to be about the struggles of interracial relationships and marriages in the sixties.

They may well be right. A staple of the folk revival was embracing causes, and few were more prevalent than the push for civil rights and racial equality. The trick was to get these lyrics with their covert political agendas past radio sensors. And how better to do that than by ostensibly courting a frog of unusual color?

4. “Froggie Went A Courtin’” By Bob Dylan

Up next is “Froggie Went a Courtin’,” a whimsical, folksy song about the marital misadventures of the titular frog. Bob Dylan‘s version is a playful spin on an older folksong, “Captain Woodstock’s Courtship.”

Like that song, the love affair ends in disaster. But whereas Woodstock gets to seduce his young lady, in this case, the wedding party gets eaten by its guests. But Dylan’s voice, affecting some silliness here, stops you from taking the lyrics too seriously.

It’s a song in the great tradition of folk music, designed to get everyone singing along. The repeated lines help with this, so by the time Dylan suggests you sing the rest yourself, it’s hard to resist.

5. “Little Blue Frog” By Miles Davis

This song by Miles Davis about frogs pays homage to Peter, Paul, and Mary’s “I’m In Love With A Little Blue Frog.” It’s an instrumental song, but the title makes clear it’s unequivocally frog-themed. And, like many songs on this list, it makes for extraordinary listening.

The song is full of instrumentation that mimics the frog’s ‘ribbit.’ It also features Davis’ legendary trumpet playing and incredible use of a triangle. The more the song goes on, the more it sounds like a jungle or rainforest environment.

But Davis didn’t write this song to sound bizarre for the sake of it. He captures the frog sounds, true. But the often obtuse music engages with Peter, Paul, and Mary’s civil rights-inspired lyrics without integrating a vocal line.

6. “Hop Frog” By Lou Reed

Anyone could be forgiven for thinking Lou Reed had a thing for frogs. This song with “frogs” in the lyrics is another selection from the 2003 album, The Raven. Like the other Reed song, “Hop Frog” takes its cue from Edgar Allan Poe. Hop-Frog is the name of Poe’s court jester, and he’s the subject of this song.

Here, the lyrics are positively straightforward. Reed sings about how Hop-Frog isn’t at home anywhere in society.

The lyrics skip through all the places native to frogs. Then they shift and explore the circles that court jesters moved in, like ballrooms and bedrooms. It’s apparent that while Hop-Frog might move in these circles, he’s never truly part of them.

Just as frogs are amphibians and move between wet and dry habitats, Hop-Frog is doomed to move uncomfortably from one social stratum to another, neither fish nor fowl.

7. “Kiss No Frog” By Lucky Dube

No list of songs that mention “frogs” would be complete without “Kiss No Frog” by Lucky Dube. While some songs focus on kissing a frog to find the prince, the singer in this song resolves not to do it.

We find out from the early verses how the singer wants to be just like her mother. The people around them advised her mom to believe in the fairy tale of kissing a frog and hoping it would turn into a prince. Unfortunately, none turned out to be a prince from all the “frogs” the mother kissed.

And so the singer decides at an early age not to kiss any frog. Here, the frogs are a metaphor for men. She believes that it’s “better to stay alone and be happy than be with someone and be unhappy.”

8. “Funny Little Frog” By Belle And Sebastian

A lot goes on in this song about frogs by the Indie Scottish band Belle and Sebastian. It sounds like a jaunty, optimistic number when you first hear it. Ostensibly, that’s exactly what it is.

But you realize how many bubbles are beneath the surface when you dig deeper. One of the song’s early lines describes the speaker as a jester with a frog in his throat. It’s a twofold reference. There’s that Hop-Frog jester of Poe’s on the one hand and the sensation of being about to cry on the other.

But that’s not all the frog represents. Later on, the lyrics wink at the story of The Frog Prince. We realize that part of the emotional nuance the speaker grapples with comes from the terrifying uncertainty of early romance. All of these combine to make the song thoroughly frog-centric.

9. “Froggy Afternoon” By Lucy Beat

If you grew up in the ’90s, then you couldn’t have missed Lucy Beat‘s “Froggy Afternoon.” This is one of those songs that don’t need deep analysis.

At its heart, It’s just a fun song about a particular amphibian aptly named Froggy. The song is from the perspective of his owner, Lucy. She describes him as having “big brown eyes, and a cute little smile.”

However, her mom disagrees with having Froggy in the house. Lucy protests, saying he is her best friend and can’t throw him out. Nevertheless, she plans to keep him.

10. “Peace Frog” By The Doors

It’s hard to rival The Doors‘ famous song, “Peace Frogs,” for strangeness. Despite having frogs in the title, it’s difficult to see their thematic relevance.

The lyrics are full of references to blood and unhappiness. The connection only emerges when you learn that the working title for “Peace Frog” was “Abortion Stories.” The song also references Jim Morrison’s arrest on stage in New Haven, Connecticut.

That makes sense of the blood, but where does the frog come in? After all, there are no mentions of frogs in the lyrics. However, there was speculation that it was Morrison’s Native American name.

 11. “Frogs And Princes” By Natasha Bedingfield

Finally, we come to Natasha Bedingfield‘s “Frogs and Princes,” another song about metaphorical frogs. It uses them to discuss the ups and downs of the modern dating world.

At its heart, the song shows how one must kiss a lot of frogs before finding Mr. Right. The singer has had her share of men who wanted everything fast.

And when Mr. Right comes along, she is understandably surprised that he acts like he has all the time in the world. He treats her like a lady throughout the night on their date.

“Frogs and Princes” is an optimistic song. It reminds us that the right person is out there somewhere. But you may have to kiss a frog or ten to meet him.

Summing Up Our List Of Frogs Songs

Songs about frogs come in all forms. They can be serious, or the lyrics don’t make sense at all.

In some cases, the songs are childish and fun. While others are strange, wonderful, and even profound meditations on the modern world.

But whether your frog songs are nonsensical, instrumental, or sung by an infamous Muppet, they’re all uniquely captivating. Frogs can be charming, and we hope these songs likewise charmed you.

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Dan Farrant, the founder of Hello Music Theory, has been teaching music for over 15 years, helping hundreds of thousands of students unlock the joy of music. He graduated from The Royal Academy of Music in 2012 and then launched Hello Music Theory in 2014. He plays the guitar, piano, bass guitar and double bass and loves teaching music theory.