Peace Frog

"Peace Frog" is a song by the Doors, which was released on their fifth studio album Morrison Hotel in 1970. Guitarist Robby Krieger explained that the music was written and recorded first, with the lyrics later coming from poems by singer Jim Morrison.[1]

"Peace Frog"
Song by the Doors
from the album Morrison Hotel
ReleasedFebruary 1970 (1970-02)
RecordedNovember 1969
StudioElektra Sound Recorders, Los Angeles
GenreRock
Length2:50
LabelElektra
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Paul A. Rothchild

Lyrics

The song features the line "Blood in the streets in the town of New Haven," which is a reference to Morrison's onstage arrest in New Haven Arena on December 9, 1967.[2] After a guitar solo, the song enters a spoken word verse with the line "Indians scattered on dawn's highway bleeding, Ghosts crowd the young child's fragile eggshell mind", which is from Morrison's poem "Newborn Awakening". Another poem, "Dawn's Highway", describes an event that occurred when he was young:[3]

Me and my mother and father and a grandmother and a grandfather were driving through the desert, at dawn, and a truck load of Indian workers had either hit another car, or just I don't know what happened but there were Indians scattered all over the highway, bleeding to death. So the car pulls up and stops. That was the first time I tasted fear. I musta' been about four like a child is like a flower, his head is floating in the breeze, man.

Critical reception

In an AllMusic album review of Morrison Hotel, critic Richie Unterberger describes the song as "the most political and controversial [album] track, documenting the domestic unrest of late-'60s America before unexpectedly segueing into the restful ballad 'Blue Sunday'."[4] Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine said the song is "the album’s best track—and one of the Doors’ greatest."[5]

References

  1. Mayhew, Jess (June 17, 2016). "Robby Krieger Explains the Story of 'Peace Frog'". Reverb. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
  2. Weldman, Rich (2011). The Doors FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the Kings of Acid Rock. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1617131141.
  3. Davis, Stephen (2004). Jim Morrison: Life, Death, Legend. Ebury Press. p. 8. ISBN 978-0-09-190042-7.
  4. Unterberger, Richie. "The Doors: Morrison Hotel – Review". AllMusic. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
  5. Cinquemani, Sal (April 18, 2007). "The Doors: Morrison Hotel". Slant Magazine. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
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