Escape (song)

"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. Ironically, Holmes does not care for piña coladas.

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 spare instrumental track, and the lyrics were inspired by an 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. 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.

Related Topics:
1979's - Partners in Crime - Humphrey Bogart - Scansion - Earworm

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