Song · Ben Harper
“With My Own Two Hands” by Ben Harper
From the album Diamonds on the Inside (2003)
“With My Own Two Hands” by Ben Harper appears on 17 radio countdowns from 13 stations between 2003 and 2022. It was first released in 2003 on the album Diamonds on the Inside. Its best result is #29 on the Triple J Hottest 100 of 2003. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #78 alternative song of 2003 and #7,293 alternative song of all time.
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"With My Own Two Hands" is the bouncing heart of Ben Harper's 2003 album Diamonds on the Inside, an up-tempo reggae groove carrying a simple, stubborn idea: that the world gets better when one person decides to get off the couch and do something. Harper wrote it himself, and he sings it with the easy conviction of someone who actually believes it.
Europe took it to heart. Radio there kept it in regular rotation, and it made Harper so popular that French Rolling Stone named him its Artist of the Year in 2003. The single came backed with "Bring the Funk", another cut from the same album, and the song got a second life later on, reworked with Jack Johnson for the soundtrack to the Curious George film.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 46 | 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana | 91X Top 91 Songs of 2003 | 91 |
| 2003 | 89 | WHFS Washington, DC / Baltimore, MD | WHFS Top 99.1 Songs of 2003 | 100 |
| 2003 | 55 | CD101 Columbus, OH | CD101 Top 101 Songs of 2003 | 101 |
| 2003 | 66 | The Buzz Burlington, VT / Plattsburgh, NY / Montreal, QC | The Buzz Top 99 Songs of 2003 | 99 |
| 2003 | 79 | Channel 104.9 San Jose, CA | Channel 104.9 Top 104.9 Songs of 2003 | 105 |
| 2003 | 52 | WBCN Boston, MA | WBCN Top 104 Songs of 2003 | 104 |
| 2003 | 71 (tie) | WBER Rochester, NY | WBER Listener Countdown 2003 | 196 |
| 2003 | 65 | 103.1 The Buzz West Palm Beach, FL | Buzz 103.1 Top 103 Buzz Cuts of 2003 | 103 |
| 2003 | 29 | Triple J Australia (national) | Triple J Hottest 100 of 2003 | 100 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 1963 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) | 2004 |
| 2004 | 1963 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) | 2005 |
| 2005 | 1953 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) | 1994 |
| 2009 | 379 | WYEP | WYEP 913 Songs That Matter from the Last Decade | 913 |
| 2009 | 152 | WYEP | WYEP 913 Essential Songs | 913 |
| 2013 | 799 | WXPN | WXPN 885 Greatest Songs of the New Millennium (2013) | 885 |
| 2018 | 886 | WTMD | WTMD Listeners' Top 897 Songs, 2003-2018 | 896 |
| 2022 | 290 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the 2000s | 907 |
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