Erich Russek and Poets in Heat
From the album Childish Things (May 28, 2025)
In Froggie Went A Courtin, Erich Russek and Poets in Heat take the centuries-old folk tune and drag it through a backwoods fever dream — turning a playful children’s song into a grooving, gothic satire of power, ritual, and absurdity.
Over a slinky, swamp-soaked arrangement, Russek delivers each verse with theatrical precision and a sly undercurrent of menace. The animals of the original story — frogs, mice, wedding guests — become stand-ins for a society that marches blindly through tradition while the foundations crumble beneath them.
Part surreal storytelling, part critique of our political theater, Froggie leans into discomfort, humor, and groove in equal measure. It’s a wedding song for a world on the brink, equal parts funeral dirge and carnival ride.
As part of Childish Things — an album that reimagines nursery rhymes and folklore as commentaries on the modern condition — Froggie Went A Courtin stands out as both absurd and eerily relevant.