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"Escape" (later known as "Escape (The Piña Colada Song)") was the highest-charting hit for Rupert Holmes, and is one of the most easily-recognized songs of the past few decades. 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.
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 an interesting new lover. His interest grabbed, he writes back and arranges to meet with the woman, 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 have more in common than they suspected, and that they may not have to look any further than each other for what they seek in a relationship.
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.
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, The Sweetest Thing and Mars Attacks!. While Holmes has since had a successful career as a playwright and novelist, and many 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."
Covers
The band Anal Cunt covered this song on their album Top 40 Hits
External links
"Escape (song)"