Recording a personal cover of “Let It Go,” the Idina Menzel–belted breakout hit from Disney’s Frozen, has become something of a national pastime. This Saturday, PinkNews drew our attention to one of the more memorable renditions of the song, manifested by none other than the viciously homophobic Westboro Baptist Church. The congregation, which offers a surprisingly vast number of “parody” covers on its website, gives the song the usual Westboro treatment, swapping out its message of hopeful empowerment with (often non-rhyming) gems like “Don’t let sin in, don’t let it be/ Be the one who says no fag marriage” and “Let it go, let it go/ Don’t give the fags any more!”
Perhaps the most striking feature of Westboro’s cover, however, is the vocal performance, which—in keeping with the original—is part girlish glee, part womanly confidence. When the unnamed singer sighs, “A kingdom of fornication, and it looks like fags are queen,” you can hear the pathos as her voice catches toward the end. Westboro has always been remarkably campy, of course, but they’ve never pushed their shtick this far: Their “Let It Go” cover sounds more like the finale of a great drag show than a serious anti-gay screed. From the flamboyantly soaring high notes of the chorus to the coy, winking last line, Westboro absolutely nails the delivery. It’s nice to see them cutting loose every once in a while. God knows they’ve werked for it.
