Escape (song)
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"Escape" (later known as "Escape (The Piña Colada Song)") was the highest-charting hit for Rupert Holmes. To this day, Holmes regards the song with a mixture of pride and chagrin; while it has made him wealthy and famous, as one of his friends described it, it is "the success that ruined his career", drawing attention from his more serious and heartfelt musical works.
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[edit] Story
The song speaks, in three verses and three choruses, of a man who, disenchanted with his current relationship, reads the personals and spots an ad that catches his attention: the ad of a woman seeking someone who, among other things, must like piña coladas.
His interest grabbed, he writes back and arranges to meet with the woman "at a bar called O'Malley's", only to find upon the meeting that his new lover is his current lover.
The song ends on an upbeat note, showing that the two lovers realized they have more in common than they suspected, and that they do not have to look any further than each other for what they seek in a relationship.
[edit] Origins
Contrary to the belief of some, the inspiration for "Escape" did not come from a similar event happening to Holmes. Recorded for 1979's Partners in Crime, the song came from an unused track for which Holmes wrote temporary lyrics (that version, "The Law of The Jungle," was released as part of his 2005 Cast of Characters box set), and the lyrics were inspired by a want-ad he read while idly perusing the personals. As Holmes put it, "I thought, what would happen to me if I answered this ad? I'd go and see if it was my own wife who was bored with me." The chorus originally started with "if you like Humphrey Bogart", which Holmes changed at the last minute, replacing the actor with the name of the first exotic cocktail he could think of (ironically, he doesn't care for them -- he once noted on TV's Uncle Floyd Show that they tasted like Kaopectate). The choice was a good one, it improved the scansion of the chorus immeasurably and made the song into an instant earworm. The rest was history.
[edit] Career
After its release as a single, the song became immediately popular, though sales were slow due to the song's actual title, "Escape" going unnoticed in the place of the oft-repeated cocktail. Holmes reluctantly agreed to rename the song "Escape (The Piña Colada Song)". The song shot up through the charts, becoming the last number-one Billboard Hot 100 hit of the 1970s and the first of the 1980s, and has made appearances in such movies as Shrek, Bewitched, The Sweetest Thing and Mars Attacks!. While Holmes has since had a successful career as a playwright and novelist, and fans feel affection for his other musical works, this song remains his most recognizable trademark. Holmes himself joked "No matter what else I do, my tombstone will be a giant pineapple."
| Preceded by "Babe" by Styx |
Billboard Hot 100 number one single First time: December 22–December 29, 1979 Second time: January 12, 1980 |
Succeeded by First: "Please Don't Go" by KC and the Sunshine Band Second: "Rock with You" by Michael Jackson |
[edit] Covers
- This song was covered by Sarge in episode 34 of Red vs. Blue, with slightly altered lyrics.
- The band Anal Cunt covered this song on their album Top 40 Hits.
- In the Simpsons episode Sunday, Cruddy Sunday, Homer sings the song with altered lyrics after finding a coupon for a free colonic: "Do you like pina colonics, and getting caught in the rain?"
- Performed by Jimmy Buffett in many live performances, never recorded.
