Escape (The Piña Colada Song)

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"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,[1] then added to prominent US radio playlists during October–November.[2] 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 follows a three-act narrative with three verses and choruses.

It’s told from the perspective of a man bored with his partner. While she sleeps, he reads the personals column and sees an ad from a woman seeking a carefree man who, among other things, enjoys piña coladas. Planning to cheat on his partner, he replies and arranges a secret meeting—only to discover the woman is his current partner, who had also planned to cheat on him. They spend the night together, with a deeper connection than they had before.

The song's theme highlights how a lack of communication can lead to infidelity, and that open, honest dialogue can avoid heartbreak and boredom.

Background and writing

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.Template:Quote

Holmes said in 2019 that he still does not drink piña coladas.[3]

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".[4] It is the first pop song to ascend to No. 1 on the Billboard pop chart in two different decades.[5] The song was the 11th best-selling single of 1980 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.[6]

In a 2016 episode of the TV show Better Call Saul, the show's protagonist, Jimmy McGill (a.k.a. Saul Goodman), while filming an ad for his fledgling legal practice, claims he is making a documentary about Rupert Holmes and sings part of "Escape".[7]

The Goldbergs' "The Piña Colada Episode" in 2019 is based on an incident that Adam F. Goldberg said really happened to his family. Goldberg said his family had to listen to "Escape" over and over when a cassette tape got stuck in the car's tape deck.[8]

Credits and personnel

Charts

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Certifications

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See also

References

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  1. ↑ Template:Cite magazine
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  5. ↑ If a decade is measured instead by the traditional definition of a ten-year period starting on January 1 in a year whose last digit is "1" and ending on December 31 in a year whose last digit is "0", then Chubby Checker's "The Twist" is the first pop song to ascend to No. 1 on the Billboard pop charts in two different decades, once on September 19, 1960 (inside the decade January 1, 1951 – December 31, 1960), and again on January 13, 1962 (inside the decade January 1, 1961 – December 31, 1970).
  6. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  7. ↑ Potts, Kimberly. "Better Call Saul First Look: 'The Piña Colada Song' Saves Jimmy's Hide", Yahoo.com, April 8, 2016, accessed July 16, 2017
  8. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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  14. ↑ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 – Template:ISBN
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  18. ↑ "Pop Singles" Billboard December 20, 1980: TIA-10.
  19. ↑ Template:Cite magazine
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