Two Princes
Encyclopedia
"Two Princes" is a song by the New York City
-based pop rock
band Spin Doctors
. As a single, it reached #7 in the United States, #2 in Canada, and #3 in the United Kingdom. It was the band's most popular song. It also ranked at #21 on Blender
magazine's list of the "50 Worst Songs Ever". It ranked #41 on "VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the 90s". In October 2009, the song was announced by Harmonix on the Lego Rock Band
track listing, as one of the 45 songs included with the game.
that emphasized the importance of sharing. They told Zoe she did not have to choose between being friends with Elmo and Telly, but rather she could be friends with both of them. It was also remade in a parody on the Bill Nye the Science Guy
Show as "Two Eyes by the Eye Doctors". An episode of The Sarah Silverman Program
featured this song as a major plot point. The song was played after wins in the clubhouse by the 1993
Philadelphia Phillies
. The scat
part of the song was used as the jingle for Kmart Australia
for numerous years.
The song appears on The Moldy Peaches
album Unreleased Cutz And Live Jamz as a live version. The boy band
Son of Dork
covered this song in 2006 on one of their singles. Boston-based a cappella group, Overboard
recorded a version of this song on their 2007 album, "Stranded".
Canadian-Israeli singer, Dorine Levy, made a feminist cover version in 2011 as well.
as the ending song of the popular TV show Ha-Comedy Store
, airing between 1994 and 1996. The song was also included in the 2005 movie Pooh's Heffalump Movie
soundtrack, and was featured in Futurama
as an example of 'college rock' as opposed to 'alternative rock'. Also was used in a Peugeot 307 Spot called "Demmands Attention" in Australia and Argentina.
It was also featured in the pilot episode of the CW's Life Unexpected
, an episode of The Sarah Silverman Program
("Maid to Border") and the films Love and Other Drugs
and So I Married an Axe Murderer
.
CD maxi
7" single
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
-based pop rock
Pop rock
Pop rock is a music genre which mixes a catchy pop style and light lyrics in its guitar-based rock songs. There are varying definitions of the term, ranging from a slower and mellower form of rock music to a subgenre of pop music...
band Spin Doctors
Spin Doctors
Spin Doctors is an American alternative rock band formed in New York City, best known for their early 1990s hits, "Two Princes," and "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong," which peaked the Billboard Hot 100 charts at #7 & #17 respectively....
. As a single, it reached #7 in the United States, #2 in Canada, and #3 in the United Kingdom. It was the band's most popular song. It also ranked at #21 on Blender
Blender (magazine)
Blender was an American music magazine that billed itself as "the ultimate guide to music and more". It was also known for sometimes steamy pictorials of celebrities....
magazine's list of the "50 Worst Songs Ever". It ranked #41 on "VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the 90s". In October 2009, the song was announced by Harmonix on the Lego Rock Band
Lego Rock Band
Lego Rock Band is a music video game and part of the Rock Band series developed by Harmonix Music Systems, but also incorporates elements from other Lego video games as developed by Traveller's Tales. The game is published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and MTV Games...
track listing, as one of the 45 songs included with the game.
Cover versions
The group sang a "modified" version of this song on Sesame StreetSesame Street
Sesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The...
that emphasized the importance of sharing. They told Zoe she did not have to choose between being friends with Elmo and Telly, but rather she could be friends with both of them. It was also remade in a parody on the Bill Nye the Science Guy
Bill Nye the Science Guy
Bill Nye the Science Guy is an educational television program that originally aired from September 10, 1993 to June 20, 1998, hosted by Bill Nye and produced by Buena Vista Television. The show aired on PBS Kids and was also syndicated to local stations, making it the second first-run television...
Show as "Two Eyes by the Eye Doctors". An episode of The Sarah Silverman Program
The Sarah Silverman Program
The Sarah Silverman Program is an American television series that starred comedian and actress Sarah Silverman, who created the series with Dan Harmon and Rob Schrab...
featured this song as a major plot point. The song was played after wins in the clubhouse by the 1993
1993 Philadelphia Phillies season
The 1993 Philadelphia Phillies season saw the Phillies capture the National League East championship. The Phillies defeated the Atlanta Braves in the 1993 National League Championship Series in six games, before losing the World Series to the Toronto Blue Jays.-Regular season:After finishing in...
Philadelphia Phillies
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...
. The scat
Scat singing
In vocal jazz, scat singing is vocal improvisation with wordless vocables, nonsense syllables or without words at all. Scat singing gives singers the ability to sing improvised melodies and rhythms, to create the equivalent of an instrumental solo using their voice.- Structure and syllable choice...
part of the song was used as the jingle for Kmart Australia
Kmart Australia
Kmart Australia Limited is a discount department store chain owned by Wesfarmers. It operates 172 stores in Australia and 15 in New Zealand, with its head office located in Mulgrave, Victoria. Wesfarmers uses the Kmart name under licence from Sears Holdings Corporation.-History:Kmart Australia...
for numerous years.
The song appears on The Moldy Peaches
The Moldy Peaches
The Moldy Peaches was an indie group founded by Adam Green and Kimya Dawson. Leading proponents of the anti-folk scene, the band has been on hiatus since 2004...
album Unreleased Cutz And Live Jamz as a live version. The boy band
Boy band
A boy band is loosely defined as a popular music act consisting of only male singers. The members are expected to dance as well as sing, usually giving highly choreographed performances. More often than not, boy band members do not play musical instruments, either in recording sessions or on...
Son of Dork
Son of Dork
Son of Dork were a British pop punk band formed by James Bourne after his previous band, Busted, split in January 2005. The name of the band came from a scene in the movie Problem Child where the chant "Son of Dork" is used. Their debut single, "Ticket Outta Loserville", was released in November...
covered this song in 2006 on one of their singles. Boston-based a cappella group, Overboard
Overboard (a cappella)
Overboard is a male a cappella group based in Boston, MA. The group's repertoire consists of a cappella covers of popular contemporary pop/rock artists, such as Train, The Script, and Rascal Flatts, and of a cappella standards, such as "Blue Moon", "In the Still of the Night" and "Stand by Me".-...
recorded a version of this song on their 2007 album, "Stranded".
Canadian-Israeli singer, Dorine Levy, made a feminist cover version in 2011 as well.
Legacy
The song gained fame in IsraelIsrael
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
as the ending song of the popular TV show Ha-Comedy Store
Ha-Comedy Store
Ha-Comedy Store was an Israeli entertainment program which was broadcast on the Israeli Channel 2 between the years 1994-1996...
, airing between 1994 and 1996. The song was also included in the 2005 movie Pooh's Heffalump Movie
Pooh's Heffalump Movie
Pooh's Heffalump Movie is a 2005 Winnie-the-Pooh film, released by Walt Disney Pictures. The film runs at 68 mins., This was the shortest feature-length Pooh film to be released in theaters until The 2011 Film at 63 mins.- Plot :...
soundtrack, and was featured in Futurama
Futurama
Futurama is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of a late 20th-century New York City pizza delivery boy, Philip J...
as an example of 'college rock' as opposed to 'alternative rock'. Also was used in a Peugeot 307 Spot called "Demmands Attention" in Australia and Argentina.
It was also featured in the pilot episode of the CW's Life Unexpected
Life Unexpected
Life Unexpected is an American television series that ran for two seasons, from 2010 to 2011.The show premiered on The CW on Monday, January 18, 2010. The 13-episode first season run ended on April 12, 2010...
, an episode of The Sarah Silverman Program
The Sarah Silverman Program
The Sarah Silverman Program is an American television series that starred comedian and actress Sarah Silverman, who created the series with Dan Harmon and Rob Schrab...
("Maid to Border") and the films Love and Other Drugs
Love and Other Drugs
Love and Other Drugs is a 2010 romantic comedy film co-written and directed by Edward Zwick and based on the non-fiction book Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagra Salesman by Jamie Reidy...
and So I Married an Axe Murderer
So I Married an Axe Murderer
So I Married an Axe Murderer is a 1993 American comedy-horror film starring Mike Myers and Nancy Travis. Myers plays Charlie McKenzie, a man afraid of commitment until he meets Harriet , who works at a butcher shop and may be a serial killer...
.
Track listings
CD single- "Two Princes" (album version) – 4:16
- "Off My Line" (live) – 5:30
CD maxi
- "Two Princes" (album version) – 4:16
- "Off My Line" (live) – 5:30
- "Rosetta Stone" (live) – 8:07
7" single
- "Two Princes" (album version) – 4:16
- "Off My Line" (live) – 5:30
Peak positions
| Chart (1993) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian ARIA Singles Chart | 3 |
| Austrian Singles Chart | 5 |
| Canadian Singles Chart | 2 |
| Dutch Top 40 Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 is a weekly music chart, which started as the "Veronica Top 40", because the offshore radio station Radio Veronica was the first to introduce it. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" until 1974, when the station was forced to stop broadcasting... |
2 |
| French SNEP Singles Chart | 5 |
| German Singles Chart | 3 |
| Irish IRMA Singles Chart | 5 |
| Norwegian Singles Chart | 2 |
| Swedish Singles Chart | 1 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 4 |
| UK Singles Chart | 3 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 7 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks | 24 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks | 2 |
| U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream | 1 |
End of year charts
| End of year chart (1993) | Position |
|---|---|
| Australian Singles Chart | 6 |
| Austrian Singles Chart | 9 |
| Dutch Top 40 | 19 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 14 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 28 |
Certifications
| Country | Certification | Date | Sales certified |
|---|---|---|---|
| Germany | Gold | 1993 | 250,000 |
| UK | Silver | May 1, 1993 | 200,000 |