As The Super Mario Bros. Movie keeps leveling up toward the $1 billion mark at the box office, it's starting to find crossover success on other charts. The film’s one song, an improvisational-sounding ballad performed by Jack Black’s Bowser, has entered the Billboard charts this week—a surprising, career-making achievement for the comedian.
“Peaches” (no relation to Justin Bieber’s prior Billboard chart-topper of the same name) is in the 83rd spot on the Hot 100 this week, nearly two weeks after Mario’s theatrical debut. This marks Black’s first solo Billboard-ranking track. As part of Tenacious D, Black previously charted for the title song for the duo’s movie The Pick of Destiny. (How “The Metal” or “Tribute” never broke onto the chart too, I’ll never understand.) But good for Black—better late than never—even if “Peaches” itself is more of a pithy joke than an actually good track.
“Peaches” appears midway through the film. It’s an emotional ode to Bowser’s unrequited love, Princess Peach, and an out-of-character moment for Mario’s longtime nemesis. The chorus: “Peaches, Peaches, Peaches-Peaches-Peaches/ Peaches, Peaches, Peaches-Peaches-Peaches/ I love you.” Truly riveting, intellectually probing, reportedly Oscar-eligible stuff.
While some viewers (me) simply chuckled during Black’s melodramatic performance of the song during the film, others have become obsessed with it. An official music video co-produced by Jack Black and production company Lyrical Lemonade, in which Black dons Bowser-inspired headgear, has garnered nearly 16 million views on YouTube.
Illumination Entertainment uploaded the actual scene from the film to YouTube several days later; it now has 11 million views and counting.
But what is a true hit song without effusive social media posts about it? Of course, “Peaches” has spawned all of the above.
There’s a particular fixation on this part of Black’s music video, where he throws a peach at the camera.
Another popular goof: mishearing the lyrics as “Bitches.”
Over on TikTok, there’s at least one “interpretative dance” inspired by the song, along with an investigation into whether “Peaches” intentionally borrows from Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up,” a.k.a. the “Rickroll” song.
@zack.ary_ Our interpretive dance of the best song ever featuring vocals from @jackblack help this get to him!!! #fyp #foryoupage #dance #bowser #peaches #xyzbca ♬ Peaches - Jack Black
@marecmi I WAS WATCHING @charlescornellstudios AND THAT WAS WHEN I REALIZED 😭 #supermariobrosmovie #peaches #bowser ♬ Peaches - Jack Black
Whether you think “Peaches” is annoying or an incredible earworm, its popularity is undeniable. This is probably the biggest song from an animated film since the beloved “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” from Encanto—but only time will tell if “Peaches” will reach the upper echelons of the Billboard charts, as that TikTok fave did.
