On Episode 48 of the Press Rewind – Prince Lyrics Podcast, fellow blogger Zachary Hoskins (PrinceSongs.org) joins me to chat about the ridiculous, ballsy, yet still somehow enjoyable 1999 era B-side, “Horny Toad.” Prince delivers a winking nod to his nasty persona throughout the song’s lyrics and we cover it line by deviant line.
“Tell him you live on a lily pad with a horny toad.”
Prince’s juvenile, horny Elvis impersonation is on full display on “Horny Toad.” It’s another rockabilly-Minneapolis sound mash-up that Prince dove headfirst into during this period (1981-1982). He takes the name of the song from the Texas Horned Frog to give us a biological lesson before…oh, who am I kidding? This song has nothing to do with that. Instead, it’s a simple double entendre to represent the sexual voracity he’s portraying in this fun B-side.
Since Prince ran with the toad theme for the double entendre, he has to see it through by referring to living on a lily pad at the song’s conclusion. However, the rest of the song is filled with sexual deviancies that he threatens upon his unsuspecting female subject. The lyrics amount to a shortlist of the sexual crimes he intends to engage in, with the intent of expressing his voracious sexual appetites.
- Obscene phone calls (“I’d breathe a little heavy; if that didn’t work, maybe I’d start to groan”)
- Assault (“All I want is to rub your body until you start to bleed”)
- Trespassing (“I’d knock all day till you let me in and then I’d knock some more”)
- Exhibitionism (“Now watch me dance”)
Somehow Prince gets away with all of these “problematic” lines thanks to his delivery, the bubbly synths, and the fantasy elements he injects into the song to clarify that this isn’t a guidebook for assaulting women. Just enjoy “Horny Toad” for what it is. A short, bouncy wink to the audience, playing up his kinky persona.
The goal of each episode of Press Rewind is to:
- Take a track by track look at the lyrical content of Prince’s discography
- Discuss my own interpretation of each song’s lyrics along with any guest I may have
- If submitted, discuss listener’s interpretations of each song’s lyrics
Thank you for joining me on this journey through Prince’s catalog!
