The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #39033   Message #1095127
Posted By: GUEST,Georgina Boyes
17-Jan-04 - 06:31 PM
Thread Name: Help: Vicar and the Frog
Subject: RE: Help: Vicar and the Frog
Piece of garbage? The song's based on a joke that exists in oral tradition and is a parodic reversal of Aarne-Thompson Tale Type 440, "The Frog King" / "Iron Henry". Versions of this traditional tale have been recorded from India to the Southern States of the USA and include "The Frog Prince"(German), The Frog Prince(Balinese), The Toad Bridegroom(Korean), The Enchanted Toad(Scandinavian), as well as three versions - two from Russia, one Cajun, where the Frog is a Princess. They form part of a larger group of internationally occurring narratives about Supernatural or Enchanted Husbands/Wives/Other Relatives.
The modern song shares other characteristics with traditional narratives in that it's anti-clerical and mocks the legal process. It doesn't condone paedophilia, and it's only homophobic if you believe the old slur that all homosexuals are pederasts.
Oh, and you don't have to sing it if you don't agree with it.