Escape (The Piña Colada Song)

"Escape (The Piña Colada Song)" is a song written and performed by British-American singer-songwriter Rupert Holmes taken from his fifth studio album Partners in Crime (1979). As the lead single for the album, the pop song was recommended by Billboard for radio broadcasters on September 29, 1979, then added to prominent US radio playlists during October–November. Rising in popularity, the song peaked at the end of December to become the final US number-one song of the 1970s.

Content
The song speaks, in three verses and three choruses, of a man who is bored with his current relationship because it has become routine and he desires some variety. One day, he reads the personal advertisements in the newspaper and spots an ad that catches his attention: a woman seeking a man who, among other little things, must like piña coladas (hence it being known as "the piña colada song"). Intrigued, he takes out an ad in reply and arranges to meet the woman "at a bar called O'Malley's", only to find upon the meeting that the woman is actually his current partner. The song ends on an upbeat note, showing the two lovers realized they have more in common than they had suspected and that they do not have to look any further than each other for what they seek in a relationship.

Background and writing
Recorded for Holmes's Partners in Crime (1979) album, the song came from an unused track for which Holmes wrote temporary or "dummy" lyrics. This version, "The Law of the Jungle", was released as part of his Cast of Characters (2005) box set and was inspired by a want-ad he read whilst idly scanning the personals one day. 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 title of the song was originally going to be "People Need Other People", and was later to be revealed that it was a true story.

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 that came to mind and fit the music."The original lyrics said, "If you like Humphrey Bogart and getting caught in the rain."... As I was getting on mic I thought to myself, I've done so many movie references to Bogart and wide-screen cinema on my earlier albums, maybe I shouldn't do one here. I thought, What can I substitute? Well, this woman wants an escape, like she wants to go on vacation to the islands. When you go on vacation to the islands, when you sit on the beach and someone asks you if you'd like a drink, you never order a Budweiser, you don't have a beer. You're on vacation, you want a drink in a hollowed-out pineapple with the flags of all nations and a parasol. If the drink is blue you'd be very happy. And a long straw. I thought, What are those escape drinks? Let's see, there's daiquiri, mai tai, piña colada... I wonder what a piña colada tastes like? I've never even had one. I thought that instead of singing, "If you like Humphrey Bogart," with the emphasis on like, I could start it a syllable earlier and go, "If you like piña -a coladas.""

- Rupert Holmes

Holmes said in 2019 that he still does not drink piña coladas.

Reception and legacy
The song shot up through the US charts, becoming the country's last number-one Billboard Hot 100 hit of 1979 and of the 1970s. "Escape" was knocked out of the top spot but returned to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart during the second week of 1980, having been displaced for a week by KC and the Sunshine Band's "Please Don't Go". It is the first pop song to ascend to #1 on the Billboard pop chart in two different decades. The song was the US's 11th-best-selling single of 1980 on the Billboard Hot 100.

In the movie Mars Attacks! (1996), the song is played during a scene with Jack Nicholson and Annette Bening at the casino.

In the 1998 film Dirty Work, "Escape" is played on a jukebox by Chris Farley's character by mistake during a bar fight when he intended to play the Rolling Stones' 'Street Fighting Man".

"Escape" was featured in the 2014 Marvel Studios film Guardians of the Galaxy as one of the tracks on Peter Quill's mixtape, "Awesome Mix Vol. 1". All of the songs featured appeared in the film or trailer as well as on the Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack album.

In a 2016 episode of the TV show Better Call Saul, the show's protagonist, Jimmy, says he is making a documentary about Rupert Holmes and sings part of "Escape".

The 2019 The Goldbergs episode "The Piña Colada Episode" is based on an incident that Adam F. Goldberg said really happened to his family. Goldberg says his family had to listen to "Escape" over and over when a cassette tape got stuck in the car's tape deck.

Credits and personnel

 * Rupert Holmes – vocals, keyboards, synthesizer
 * Dean Bailin – guitar
 * Frank Gravis – bass
 * Leo Adamian – drums
 * Steve Jordan – "double drumming" with Adamian