Happy Ears: Toad Boy by Conner Cherland
By Conner Cherland
“I created ‘Toad Boy’ as a silly writing exercise. One of my favorite songs by Shakey Graves says ‘Old snake lady stole my savings’ and I thought ‘Hey a snake lady sounds funny. I should make a character like that!’ I started singing about a toad boy and the phrase ‘walrus skin’ came out randomly, so I formed a story about a boy toad who learns to be himself after growing up around a bunch of walruses. After more random wordplay, I sung ‘Marmalade of all our hopes and dreams’ and realized - hot dang I got a song.
For the longest time I thought it was a silly song about a toad, but over time I realized that my subconscious wrote the song as a way to process my own music journey. I feel extraordinarily out of place in the music industry. I don't feel cool enough, good looking enough, or interesting like other musicians I know and respect. But at the end of the day, I can write a song and I can be honest about my heart and show it to you. That's my power.
This is a song about breaking from tradition and being who you are. At the end, the narrator says ‘I heard [Toad Boy]'s getting by.’ For all the times you feel like quitting and returning to your cozy old life, I hope you remember this little toad boy and how he's getting by, even when people can't see past the walrus skin.”