Two Tickets to Paradise

"Two Tickets to Paradise"
Single by Eddie Money
from the album Eddie Money
B-side	"Don't Worry"
Released	June 24, 1978
Format	7" single
Recorded	1977
Genre	Hard rock, power pop
Length	4:00 (Album Version) 3:09 (Single Remix)
Label	Columbia
Writer(s)	Eddie Money
Producer(s)	Bruce Botnick
Eddie Money singles chronology
"Baby Hold On" (1978) "Two Tickets to Paradise" (1978) "You've Really Got a Hold on Me" (1979)

"Two Tickets to Paradise" is a song by American rock singer, Eddie Money, from his 1977 album Eddie Money. It was released as a single in June 1978 and reached number 22 on the Billboard Hot 100.^[1]

Background and content

Money wrote the song about his girlfriend at the time. His girlfriend's mother wanted her to marry a doctor or a lawyer, not a musician. Money wrote the song in the hope of being allowed to take his girlfriend on holiday.

Release

The 45 RPM record single mix of the song is considerably different from the now more familiar LP version that appears on the Eddie Money album, a vast number of Money compilation albums, and digital releases of the song. Money had re-recorded his entire lead vocal for the single mix. The LP version is broken up in three verses, two choruses, with a harmony section of "Whoa Whoa" right before the third verse, while the re-recorded 45 RPM version is now three verses, three choruses, (with the third verse sang over the "Whoa" harmony segment), also added were guitar riffs during the "waited so long" parts; also lyrics were changed to the chorus slightly, as instead of saying "I've got two tickets to paradise, I've got two tickets to paradise" right after saying "pack your bags, we leave tonight" is now "Baby, it'll be so nice, for I've got two tickets to paradise". The mix is also substantially different, and new and different lead guitar parts appear throughout. Lastly, the LP version ends with a conclusive bongo/drum ending; whereas the 45 version uses a "fade away rhythm," DJ style close. The single mix runs at 3:07 minutes.

Most U.S. radio stations air the wider available LP version, while the 45 RPM single mix can sometimes be heard on stations that specifically play only hit-single versions of oldies due to these stations digitizing the original 45 RPM records for airplay.

The 45 RPM version has been reissued on the Playlist: The Very Best of Eddie Money compilation CD. The guitar solo was performed by Jimmy Lyon.

In popular culture

"Two Tickets to Paradise" is used in the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, on the fictional Classic rock radio station K-DST.

The song appears in the episode "Homer Loves Flanders" of The Simpsons, in which Homer sings and plays the air guitar to the rock song.

The song appears on an episode of the TV show Unhitched.

Michael Scott of The Office sings a short, parodied version of the song in the episode "A Benihana Christmas."

It was also featured in an episode of The King of Queens where Doug Heffernan and Deacon Palmer attempt to spend $5,000 in one day, and they hire Eddie to play in Doug's living room.

The song can be heard as a background number in the film, Sideways. In one of the beginning scenes of Balls of Fury, Randy's co-performing counterpart can be seen (and heard) singing a karaoke version of the song with a parrot.

"Two Tickets to Paradise" was the centerpiece of a commercial during GEICO's "get happy, get GEICO" ad campaign in 2012. Eddie Money appears in the commercial as the owner of his own travel agency and sings the chorus of the song to a family trying to book a vacation (much to their annoyance). The tag line is that GEICO customers are "happier than Eddie Money running a travel agency."

There is a reference in movie "Good Kill" where one of the characters starts singing "I've got two tickets to Paradise..." (min 0:26:48) and also in House MD, episode 6 of season 6 ("Known Unknown"), a character says, "In the words of the great philosopher, Eddie Money, 'I've got two tickets to paradise.'" (min 0:03:26)

The song was made available for download on May 1, 2012 to play in Rock Band 3 Basic and PRO mode utilizing real guitar / bass guitar, and MIDI compatible electronic drum kits.

The song was covered in an episode of Hawaii Five-0 in the episode "Ua Helele'i Ka Hoku (Fallen Star)".

Chart positions

References