Spin Doctors’ “Two Princes” Lyrics Meaning
Sophia Dalton by SMF·
As the title states, this is a song about “two princes”. They may not be royalty in the literal sense. In fact the singer, who portrays himself as one of the princes, is definitely not of regal blood. Rather this language was inspired by Spin Doctor frontman/lead singer Chris Barron’s fascination with medieval-based fantasy fiction circa the time he penned the song. And what it is actually about is his trying to win the affections of a particular lady while being rivaled by someone who is much better off materially, thus the other ‘prince’.
');var c=function(){cf.showAsyncAd(opts)};if(typeof window.cf !== 'undefined')c();else{cf_async=!0;var r=document.createElement("script"),s=document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];r.async=!0;r.src="//";r.readyState?r.onreadystatechange=function(){if("loaded"==r.readyState||"complete"==r.readyState)r.onreadystatechange=null,c()}:r.onload=c;s.parentNode.insertBefore(r,s)}; })();So basically he compares his situation to that of his rival. And what it boils down to is while he is not as paid as his competitor, he does love the woman who is their mutual object of affection more, at least from his own perspective. And once again, the main purpose of the song is to convince her of such. In another way, we can say he wants her to choose him as a spouse as opposed to the other prince. And he is adamant about putting this point forth.
Conclusively it is not specified which one of them, if any, she has chosen. But it does seem in the very least that Chris has her ear. And he is intent on driving the idea home that he is there for her in any way he can possibly serve.
Release Date of “Two Princes”
“Two Princes” was released by Epic Records on 20 August 1991. The band released this classic as part of their debut album entitled Pocket Full of Kryptonite. And later it was issued as the second official single from that album. It shares the same album with another Spin Doctors classic titled “Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong”. Both tracks are the signature songs of the Spin Doctors’ heyday.
');var c=function(){cf.showAsyncAd(opts)};if(typeof window.cf !== 'undefined')c();else{cf_async=!0;var r=document.createElement("script"),s=document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];r.async=!0;r.src="//";r.readyState?r.onreadystatechange=function(){if("loaded"==r.readyState||"complete"==r.readyState)r.onreadystatechange=null,c()}:r.onload=c;s.parentNode.insertBefore(r,s)}; })();Chart Success
In terms of chart performance, this proved to be the band’s most-successful single. It rose all the way to number 7 in the United States (Hot 100) and number 3 in Britain. “Two Princes” also made it within the top 10 of music charts in these countries:
- Australia
- Austria
- Belgium
- Canada
- Denmark
- France
- German
- Ireland
- The Netherlands
- New Zealand
- Norway
- Switzerland,
- Sweden (where it flew to number 1)
“Two Princes” receives Grammy Nomination
In addition to being a chart success, “Two Princes” earned the Spin Doctors their only Grammy nomination ever . This was in 1994 during the 36th edition of the annual Grammy Awards. It was nominated in the category of Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.
Who wrote “Two Princes”?
Chris Barron and the rest of his Spin Doctors members wrote and produced this song. Below is the full list of the track’s writers
- Chris Barron
- Aaron Comes
- Eric Schenkman
- Mark White
NOTE: In producing this track, Spin Doctors had assistance in the form of their regular collaborator, record producer Frank Aversa.
