Here's a Frog with His Head on Straight

I always liked Kermit the Frog’s song “It’s Not Easy Bein’ Green”, written by Joe Rapposo. I never realized until I studied the lyrics how much it lacked meter, form, and any real semblance of poetry. It’s really like a bunch of mumbling that Kermit is doing to himself while letting us listen in.

But there is a lesson to be learned in that mumbling. Listen with me:

He starts with a basic premise:

It’s not easy being green, having to spend each day the color of the leaves.  When I think it could be nicer being red, or yellow or gold — or something much more colorful like that.

I’ll have to agree, of all the colors I might want to be, green would not be one of them. It brings about images of Mr. Spock’s blood.

Kermit continues:

It’s not easy being green. It seems you blend in with so many other ordinary things. And people tend to pass you over ’cause you’re not standing out like flashy sparkles in the water — or stars in the sky.

Ah, that’s the real issue. Kermit doesn’t think he’s ugly. He thinks he’s unspectacular. He thinks he’s unnoticeable. And he’s right. That’s why frogs are green; to blend in. But Kermit is not your normal, everyday frog. He doesn’t want to blend in.

One of the greatest fears of man is that he will go through his entire life and not be noticed. That’s why politicians worry so much about leaving a “legacy”. They want to know that they made a difference. Everybody deserves to be told that, at the end of their life, they made a difference. Nobody wants to be “green” if it means leading a life of irrelevance.

Then Kermit’s thoughts take a turn.

But green’s the color of Spring.  And green can be cool and friendly-like.  And green can be big like an ocean, or important like a mountain, or tall like a tree.

If on the surface, green is irrelevant, Kermit realizes that it doesn’t have  to be. There are a lot of great things that are green — mountains, oceans, trees. And they aren’t irrelevant. It’s kinda hard to miss a mountain.

When green is all there is to be it could make you wonder why, but why wonder why?  I am green and it’ll do fine.  It’s beautiful!  And I think it’s what I want to be.

Yup, Kermit is happy being green. But he’s happy because that’s what he’s decided to be.

It isn’t easy being green. But you can make it work. It’s your choice.