The Spin Doctors, Deconstructed
image credit: in picture, but I got this from SpinDoctors.com
We had dinner last night at Casa del Noped with Jigga, J-No, and the ever-cute baby Katherine. Somehow during dinner the Spin Doctors came up briefly, and I talked about how much I listened to their Pocket Full of Kryptonite album right around the time I was graduating from high school in 1993.
This morning J-No sent us this email after getting in to work.
As I was flipping XM channels on the way to work, I heard:
“if you want to buy me flowers, just go ahead now.
and if you, want to talk for hours, just go ahead now.” etc etc etcWhat does the line at the end mean- where is says- Oh, your majesty…..forget the king and marry me…….. Who is he talking about?
After reading Jennifer’s email I realized that there are probably many of you out there who are not aware of the deep, multi-layered complexities of the Spin Doctors’ work. I sent J-No the following thoughtful, insightful, utterly deep, and - some might say - brilliant reply. After reading it, I knew I must share it with you, the gentle blizzog reader whose thirst for Spin Doctors wisdom and insight will never be fully quenched.
Man, do I love the Spin Doctors. The song you are referring to is called “Two Princes“, and was the Spin Doctors first big hit. With a light, upbeat, whimsical set of lyrics, the song depicts the classic love triangle between two men of very different means and a hottie.
The song’s title refers to the two princes that the hottie can choose between. The lyrics are sung from the perspective of the poor guy in this triangle, and he explains the difference between himself and the other “prince”. Lines like “One has diamonds in his pockets / This one, said he wants to buy you lockets” depict the great disparity in buying power between the two men.
The line you are referring to, “forget the king and marry me,” is the singer’s plea to the hottie (the princess) to ignore what her father (the king) would want her to do (marry the rich prince) and marry the poor prince instead.
The song never says if they ended up getting together, but I’m guessing they did. Why? The Spin Doctors’ next big hit was “Little Miss Can’t-Be-Wrong”, whose spiteful lyrics about a significant other who is always right shows that the group grasped the true meaning of marriage.
Deep stuff. Rich. And Compelling. The Spin Doctors, baby. Soak it in.
I need to give up this computer stuff and become a full-time pop culture maven. You’re welcome.
I think Jamie’s on to something. I also think that commentary exposes a theme in their music. I really think the lead singer (or whoever wrote their music) had some serious self-esteem issues. Their third hit, “Pocketful of Kryptonite”, also highlights a love triangle where he compares himself to Jimmy Olson trying to compete with “Superman” so to speak. Combine that with the message of the previous 2 songs, his music is clearly a cry for help. So sad. I never realized how beautiful and tragically brilliant their lyrics were. I’m going to try to start a movement to have Spindoctor guy replace Kurt Cobain as the lyrical genius of our time. Probably should learn his name first though
What time is it?
Four thirty
Its not late, naw, naw,
Just early, early, early
I was locked in a closet once with that song left on repeat for 30 minutes….talk about bad times.
I remember when the Tarching Mar-Heels played Two Princes… it was hella-kewl! WERD!