"It's a reaction to a certain singer who seemed to make it his mission to slag us off at every point, but really didn't seem to be being true to himself, or to have understood what we are. We don't want to get into some tabloid slanging match, but we just felt like he was acting a part, and really pretending to be someone he is not. We really feel that you don't have to be all glitzy and tabloid to make good music, and that there's a bond between musicians and artists that should be held up - why not talk about a band you love or a song that inspired you?" - Richard - ilikemusic.com - Source
"Well another theme that runs through the record is the idea of a surreal and sinister kinda fairytale world gone wrong. And that runs through A Bad Dream, Crystal Ball, Broken Toy and the whole thing of The Iron Sea definitely has a slightly macabre unreal feel to it, and I think The Frog Prince is the most literal expression of that. Again, a bit like Leaving So Soon?, it was written on behalf of all three of us. It was inspired by a conversation that Tom and I were having in a slightly drunken state in a hotel in Toronto, and we were talking about someone in another band who we felt was a really talented songwriter and really intelligent and talented person, but we felt he was busy bad-mouthing us and every other band that was around it seemed. It was very frustrating to see him go from a cool great songwriter in a small indie band, to suddenly becoming this person who's playing the part of the arrogant rock star. And I guess we in some stupid way felt that was some sort of betrayal, because you feel that you're part of a community of bands and people who started at kind of at the same time. So that song was a defence of us, and it's a plea not to betray who you actually are, in the hope of impressing other people. And I guess it's using the idea of this sinister fairytale as a way of manifesting the weird world of the media and so on, and if you wander into it thinking you can say whatever you want then people encourage you to play a part. But they'll just as soon stab you in the back, as give you a big hug and tell you how wonderful you are. It's very dangerous game to play, and it ends up with you ceasing to be who you really are. And we've always, rather naively, tried to get by on being completely who we are, and being completely honest about who we are and being completely honest about who we are - and a lot of people really respect that, but on the other hand it leaves you exposed, you don't have a shield up of any sort; so that's what the song is about." - Tim - Podcast 6 (19th June 2006)
"It's a reaction to a certain singer who seemed to make it his mission to slag us off at every point, but really didn't seem to be being true to himself, or to have understood what we are. We don't want to get into some tabloid slanging match, but we just felt like he was acting a part, and really pretending to be someone he is not. We really feel that you don't have to be all glitzy and tabloid to make good music, and that there's a bond between musicians and artists that should be held up - why not talk about a band you love or a song that inspired you?" - Richard - ilikemusic.com - Source "Well another theme that runs through the record is the idea of a surreal and sinister kinda fairytale world gone wrong. And that runs through A Bad Dream, Crystal Ball, Broken Toy and the whole thing of The Iron Sea definitely has a slightly macabre unreal feel to it, and I think The Frog Prince is the most literal expression of that. Again, a bit like Leaving So Soon?, it was written on behalf of all three of us. It was inspired by a conversation that Tom and I were having in a slightly drunken state in a hotel in Toronto, and we were talking about someone in another band who we felt was a really talented songwriter and really intelligent and talented person, but we felt he was busy bad-mouthing us and every other band that was around it seemed. It was very frustrating to see him go from a cool great songwriter in a small indie band, to suddenly becoming this person who's playing the part of the arrogant rock star. And I guess we in some stupid way felt that was some sort of betrayal, because you feel that you're part of a community of bands and people who started at kind of at the same time. So that song was a defence of us, and it's a plea not to betray who you actually are, in the hope of impressing other people. And I guess it's using the idea of this sinister fairytale as a way of manifesting the weird world of the media and so on, and if you wander into it thinking you can say whatever you want then people encourage you to play a part. But they'll just as soon stab you in the back, as give you a big hug and tell you how wonderful you are. It's very dangerous game to play, and it ends up with you ceasing to be who you really are. And we've always, rather naively, tried to get by on being completely who we are, and being completely honest about who we are and being completely honest about who we are - and a lot of people really respect that, but on the other hand it leaves you exposed, you don't have a shield up of any sort; so that's what the song is about." - Tim - Podcast 6 (19th June 2006)