The Piña Colada Song Is Actually About Two People Trying to Cheat on Each Other
“The Piña Colada Song” sounds like a cheerful holiday song.
It isn’t.
It is a story about two people in a stale relationship independently attempting to find someone else.
They both place or answer personal ads.
They arrange a secret meeting.
Then they discover they’ve accidentally arranged to cheat on each other…
with each other.
Romantic?
Questionable.
Brilliant pop storytelling?
Absolutely.
What is the actual title?
“Escape (The Piña Colada Song)” by Rupert Holmes.
The parenthetical subtitle wasn’t originally the main attraction.
But listeners remembered the cocktail.
Eventually the song became universally known as “The Piña Colada Song”.
Sometimes audiences rename your work for you.
What happens in the song?
A man is bored with his relationship.
His partner is asleep beside him.
He reads the personal advertisements in a newspaper.
Remember newspapers?
People once attempted online dating using paper and several days of waiting.
He finds an ad from a woman describing the sort of man she wants.
Her interests appeal to him.
So he replies.
Importantly:
he does this without telling his partner.
They arrange a meeting at a bar.
The mystery woman walks in.
It’s his partner.
So both of them were trying to cheat?
Essentially, yes.
That’s the part often lost when the song appears at weddings.
Both people are secretly searching outside the relationship.
Then they discover they were apparently more compatible than either realised.
The song treats this as a funny romantic revelation.
Modern relationship therapists may have follow-up questions.
Why don’t they get angry?
That’s the joke.
Instead of:
“You were trying to cheat on me!”
the reaction becomes:
“You like these things too?”
They realise they’d stopped communicating.
Each was searching for qualities that already existed in the other person.
It’s basically a romantic comedy compressed into four minutes.
Did Rupert Holmes actually like piña coladas?
Here’s another excellent detail.
Holmes reportedly wasn’t particularly interested in them.
The original lyrical idea involved a different cultural reference.
While recording, he searched for something more evocative of tropical escape and landed on piña coladas.
The cocktail became more famous than the title.
Was the song a No. 1?
Yes.
And it achieved a wonderful piece of chart trivia.
“Escape” became the final US No. 1 of the 1970s.
It then remained involved at the top as the calendar moved into 1980.
A song about answering a newspaper personal ad effectively closed a musical decade.
Why does the song work so well?
Because you need to hear the ending.
Most pop songs are emotionally static.
Verse one:
I love you.
Verse two:
Still love you.
Chorus:
Definitely love you.
“Escape” has a plot.
Information changes.
There is a reveal.
That gives the listener a reason to stay.
Where have I heard “The Piña Colada Song”?
Almost everywhere.
Its film and television appearances include Shrek, Guardians of the Galaxy, Better Call Saul, Grown Ups and numerous other productions.
Directors love it because the recording instantly communicates a particular mood:
cheerful
slightly cheesy
1970s
holiday
ironic.
And if the scene involves questionable romance, even better.
What genre is it?
Soft rock.
Pop.
Yacht-rock adjacent.
It has become part of the broader late-1970s/early-1980s soft-rock revival.
Songs like “Escape”
Try:
Looking Glass – Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl)
Gerry Rafferty – Right Down the Line
Christopher Cross – Sailing
10cc – I’m Not in Love
Steely Dan – Peg
Player – Baby Come Back
Ambrosia – How Much I Feel
Hall & Oates – Sara Smile
Little River Band – Reminiscing
Rupert Holmes – Him
What does “The Piña Colada Song” really mean?
People can become strangers inside long relationships.
The couple go searching for excitement elsewhere and accidentally rediscover each other.
Whether you find that romantic or alarming probably says something about you.
Either way:
maybe don’t play it as the first dance at your wedding without knowing the plot.