Alice in Chains – Frogs

"Frogs" as written by and Sean H. Kinney Jerry Cantrell....
What does friend mean to you?
A word so wrongfully abused
Are you like me, confused
All included but you
Alone
The sounds of silence often soothe
Shapes and colors shift with mood
Pupils widen and change their hue
Rapid brown avoid clear blue
Why's it have to be this way
Be this way
Be this way
Be this way
Be this way
Be this way
Flowers watched through wide brown eyes bloom
A child sings an unclaimed tune
Innocence spins cold cocoon
Grow to see the pain too soon
Why's it have to be this way
Be this way
Be this way
Be this way
Be this way
Be this way
"At seven am on a Tuesday, usual August
Next week I'll be twenty eight
I'm still young, it'll be me
Off the wall I scrape you
I can't wake, I gotta wake
To cause this wake, I gotta wake no more
It causes wake, to drown this hate
To never really stay, never will
You take your plate
Put me through hell, live, live
Direct your fate
You say I can do it so well
Your expiration date
Your expiration date
Fate, date, expiration date
(this was the last time)
Hate
And don't fuck with me again
My own clean slate
Don't fuck with me again
Makes your eyes dilate
Makes you shake
Irate"


Lyrics submitted by Ice

"Frogs" as written by Sean H. Kinney Jerry Cantrell

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management

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Frogs song meanings
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58 Comments

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  • +42
    General Commenthow the hell would u get drug abuse outta this?! my god its clearly about friendships goin throught rough times!!! just cuz layne was on heroin doesnt mean that all their damn music is abt it
    HardRocker7on March 05, 2005   Link
  • +9
    General CommentI think this song is about someone being sociable and popular when they're young but then distancing themselves from people as they grow older because they're done wrong so many times.

    "What does friend mean to you? A word so wrongfully abused"
    -Meaning when you are young and naive, you think a lot of people are your friends when they're not. And he says next that he is confused.

    "Sounds of silence often soothe. Shapes and colors shift the mood"
    -It becomes more appealing to be aloof because different things you notice about people change your opinion.

    "Innocence spins cold coccoon. Grow to see the pain too soon"
    -When you're young and innocent, you are vulnerable to coldness because you're new to things. Having lots of bad experiences will make you grow old faster because you become more vulnerable.


    Well, this is how I see the song. I'm sure it could be interpreted several ways.
    ILUVLAYNEon July 15, 2010   Link
  • +6
    General CommentI feel like this song is definitely about how friendships change and can go bad with age. I really cant understand how people who like AiC so much cant see any of their songs for anything more than just songs about heroin. I mean really, give Layne some credit.
    agginymon November 30, 2009   Link
  • +5
    General CommentDo you guys think this song has anything to do with the relationship Layne had with his father?

    In case you do not know the story, his dad left when Layne was 8 or so. And then a few years later his mom or someone told him that his dad was dead, but Layne did not believe it so he went looking for him, without telling his family.

    When he found his dad, he saw he was an addict.

    He figured that if he became a rock star that his dad would try and find him and that is exactly what happened. Unfortunately, his dad used him for drugs and drug money and that's about the extent of their relationship.

    When Layne was trying to stay clean, his dad would still come by trying to score drugs or money for drugs. This also mirrors what happened with his longtime girlfriend, Demri.

    I was just throwing that out there to further the discussion about these lyrics and their meaning.

    FogStaleyon March 15, 2010   Link
  • +3
    Song Meaningit begins by explaining how 'friendship' is abused by people who are a-holes, because they would have to not value friendship to defile their own 'friends', also how this had happened to Layne.(alone....)'Sounds of silence" often soothe, because hes all alone 'popping' which is better than being belittled by peers his sort of escape from all the bull, things shift as his mood goes from sad,down, to high as f'in s- and what occurs during this such as: widening pupils-tends to happen only when youve been 'hit' as i like to say, then rapid brown avoid clear blue because base heroin has to be mixed w/ water and an acid so.. water being blue and heroin being brown its obviously his preparation as well. He asks why it has to be 'this way' which is over as in terms of a friendship, how he is 'confused' as to why it must end for worse.the flowers he talks about are his peers moving on, unaffected as he(outcast usually) he watches all this in fear hence wide eyes.-child sings an unclaimed tune- means originality which is obviosly him,Layne,cuz while they hate and destroy lives he can only love all people.Being a lover and not hater as his peers, his innocence(love) spins a cuccoon(barrier) blocking him from those who hate.but to be socially healthy you must reach out, which would mean conforming to others views while exposing his own which would seem off to his 'friends' as they hate rather than love, he grows to see this spread of hate young which brings him pain for the way others live.Then,again with his constant confusion to why they hate unprovoked. The end of the song f-ing clearly goes to show the situation which the broken friendship occured upon how he(layne) has much to look forward to in life but is held down by needy 'friends' how he cant sleep cuz of em and how helping them (even though they suck) will make them see error in their ways and end their hate,also how he knows they never will stay pure or loving in nature.how they must be responsible for their unconditional love and how he is betrayed once again. His fate is changed because he accepts this person through life who only f's him over then feels hate towards them because what theyve done how he never wants to see this person again, wants to start his life anew.
    THIS song is to that person that hurt layne and is titled frogs because thats how he felt after the ended friendship he could hardly 'croak' words to anyone being lonely. The end is all fragments with .... dots trailing because this is him rethinking what just happened all stoned which would make one sound tired and sort of frog-like. Basically dont be a jerk because the simplest negative idea can hurt one soo much more than the effort put into it. "Sometimes the only way, to change my day?, is to play..., inside the fray." ME-out
    LTSlive69on March 28, 2011   Link
  • +2
    General CommentOr Frogs could refer to the frogs that were outside of the studio when the song was written. Those frogs were eventually dubbed into the begining of the song. Listen closely and you can hear them.

    Again, I'm going to agree with Angry Sar. If you guys were true fans drug use wouldn't be something that you'd even consider.
    Redsand187on November 09, 2004   Link
  • +2
    General Commentyeah i agree with sicman, this song is about friends fighting.
    garrett (THE ZEBRA)on May 04, 2005   Link
  • +1
    General CommentPupils widen and change their hue
    Rapid brown avoid clear blue

    That at least is about eyes, clearly. Someone's "rapid brown" eyes are avoiding Layne's "clear blue" eyes. Rapid makes me think shifty and deceitful, while clear is obviously honest.
    circe.invidiosaon September 27, 2006   Link
  • +1
    General Commentfrogs is a super sad song which talks about the struggles in addictions and deppression, as a songwriter i know layne put those feelings and justified his feelings, so you should pay him respect my favorite line here is " what does friend mean to you a word so wrongly abused" this talks about how when your on shit you think everyones your friend and instead of helping they make it worse. r.i.p layne
    mutantzombiefetishon April 13, 2007   Link
  • +1
    General Commenti will admit that it could very well be that drugs were the cause or at least part of the meaning behind the song in the sense that the song just talks about how hes upset with how his life turned out to put it in simple terms. the very first verse touches upon the fact that he doesnt really have anyone to turn to, he feels alone, that despite all his success and all the "friends" that were with him through all the good times arent really there anymore. At least thats one way to look at it. Then he talks about how he just sorta wrecked his life at an early age, hes grown up to see horrible things and hes only turning 28. So yea in a sense, it might touch upon heroine, but the meaning of this song can relate to someone whose depressed or headed down the wrong path because of something other than drugs. Thats why the songs great, because it doesnt matter what he personally may have done to end up that way.. its the fact that a lot of people, users or not, feel the same way about their own lives.
    Court4shorton May 17, 2009   Link
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