# How Do You Interpret Rupert Holmes' "Escape (The Pina Colada Song)" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 4, 2019, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-interpret-rupert-holmes-escape-the-pina-colada-song/839694 "2019-09-04T17:10:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-interpret-rupert-holmes-escape-the-pina-colada-song/839694/1 "2019-09-04T17:10:08Z")
I realize that this song has a substantial hatedom, but I’m asking you to look outside of your blinding hatred for this one. What message do you think the song is trying to convey? ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-interpret-rupert-holmes-escape-the-pina-colada-song/839694/2 "2019-09-04T17:23:47Z")
Hmmm…I could have sworn I had question marks in there. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-interpret-rupert-holmes-escape-the-pina-colada-song/839694/3 "2019-09-04T17:24:22Z")
I don’t think it’s trying to convey a message…just tell a story of two people who didn’t realize they already had what they wanted. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-interpret-rupert-holmes-escape-the-pina-colada-song/839694/4 "2019-09-04T17:25:22Z")
I really don’t think there’s much below the surface of that song. Guy decides to cheat on and/or dump his wife/girlfriend (it’s not clear which), so he places an ad in the personals (which actually used to be an actual thing in actual paper newspapers). In a crazy twist of fate, his “own lovely lady” is the one who answers the ad, and they realize they were meant for each other all along. If there’s any message, I guess it’s to appreciate what you already have. (For the record, I don’t hate it. But it’s surely not a masterpiece of 20th-century musicianship.) ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-interpret-rupert-holmes-escape-the-pina-colada-song/839694/5 "2019-09-04T17:39:19Z")
It’s an excuse for Gen-Xers to reaffirm their own relationships via personals ads. Yes, I have seen this exact ad in a personals column: > [@](#): > > If you like Pina Coladas, and getting caught in the rain > If you’re not into yoga, if you have half a brain > If you like making love at midnight, in the dunes of the cape > I’m the love that you’ve looked for, write to me, and escape. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-interpret-rupert-holmes-escape-the-pina-colada-song/839694/6 "2019-09-04T17:42:44Z")
You have a couple of people who are supposedly in a relationship, that are doing some pre-Tinder fooling around looking for someone to cheat on the other with. And then the person they find is, surprise!, the partner they were trying to betray. Everyone is so happy because they both like the same things, and probably always have, and they end up together, still entirely sick of each other. They go home in a brief romantic mood and find that the dog has puked on the carpet, the dishwasher needs to be unloaded, and they did not find what they were looking for. One on the couch, one in the bedroom, both crying. Dreaming of the “what if?” What if I had just swiped left instead of right? I would still have my somewhat imperfect marriage/relationship. But that is all gone now. And then the lawyers came. Too sickly sweet and nausea inducing, much like a Pina Colada. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-interpret-rupert-holmes-escape-the-pina-colada-song/839694/7 "2019-09-04T17:44:55Z")
Given that it came out in 1979 and considering the way the song ends, it seems like they went off and enjoyed a romantic escape to a tropical beach and had their piña coladas. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-interpret-rupert-holmes-escape-the-pina-colada-song/839694/8 "2019-09-04T17:46:18Z")
It’s a cautionary tale about the perils of not being open with your partner about what you really want. If either of them had bitten the bullet and admitted they wanted pina coladas et al., the other would have either jumped at it, and re-affirmed their relationship, or suddenly realized how stupid those desires were, allowing them to end the relationship on an honest basis. Now it’s just awkward. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-interpret-rupert-holmes-escape-the-pina-colada-song/839694/9 "2019-09-04T17:47:23Z")
> [@StusBlues](#): > > What message do you think the song is trying to convey? Clearly by its cheerful bouncy tone and the fact they are both laughing at the end, it intends to convey that the relationship is affirmed. Of course, a cynic (or a realist) will conclude it’s destroyed, but that would require a level of self awareness on the part of both members of the couple that is not apparent in the song. They’re both extremely shallow. > [@Wheelz](#): > > Guy decides to cheat on and/or dump his wife/girlfriend (it’s not clear which), so he places an ad in the personals (which actually used to be an actual thing in actual paper newspapers). In a crazy twist of fate, his “own lovely lady” is the one who answers the ad, and they realize they were meant for each other all along. Actually, she’s the one who put an ad in the personals first. He reads it while she is sleeping beside him, and responds to it in kind. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-interpret-rupert-holmes-escape-the-pina-colada-song/839694/10 "2019-09-04T17:47:24Z")
Hold on folk… SHE places the ad that HE is answering. Edit: Col…come on. You beat me literally by seconds. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-interpret-rupert-holmes-escape-the-pina-colada-song/839694/11 "2019-09-04T17:52:19Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Actually, she’s the one who put an ad in the personals first. He reads it while she is sleeping beside him, and responds to it in kind. :smack: I hereby turn in my “1970’s one-hit wonder expert” card. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-interpret-rupert-holmes-escape-the-pina-colada-song/839694/12 "2019-09-04T17:55:40Z")
Several years ago there was a new report about a couple who apparently actually experienced this phenomenon – both placed personal ads and ended up inadvertently meting each other. as I recall, it didn’t do much for their relationship. I’m not surprised they hooked up again – despite the song lyrics, you’re likely to write an ad looking for someone like your current SO, and so are they. There’s a pretty good chance of being set up with your prospective ex. I really have a hard time imagining that this would make their bond better – they were both actively looking for a new partner on the sly, which has got to make you suspicious, even if you learn more commonalities from the experience. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-interpret-rupert-holmes-escape-the-pina-colada-song/839694/13 "2019-09-04T17:57:04Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Clearly by its cheerful bouncy tone and the fact they are both laughing at the end, it intends to convey that the relationship is affirmed. Of course, a cynic (or a realist) will conclude it’s destroyed, but that would require a level of self awareness on the part of both members of the couple that is not apparent in the song. They’re both extremely shallow. Agreed, but I would argue that a shallow person would turn on their heel and dump the chump who wanted to bail on the relationship. Never mind that they wanted to bail as well - true shallowness does not admit such self-awareness. Conversely, it takes a certain degree of maturity and acceptance to swallow one’s pride and admit that the problem all along was communication and failing to be genuine with each other. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-interpret-rupert-holmes-escape-the-pina-colada-song/839694/14 "2019-09-04T18:00:58Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I’m not surprised they hooked up again – despite the song lyrics, you’re likely to write an ad looking for someone like your current SO, and so are they. There’s a pretty good chance of being set up with your prospective ex. Something like this happened to my uncle. He’d been through a bitter divorce a few years prior, and a couple of (new) friends said they knew someone he would like. Sure enough, they inadvertently introduced him to his ex-wife. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-interpret-rupert-holmes-escape-the-pina-colada-song/839694/15 "2019-09-04T18:26:04Z")
> [@StusBlues](#): > > Something like this happened to my uncle. He’d been through a bitter divorce a few years prior, and a couple of (new) friends said they knew someone he would like. > > Sure enough, they inadvertently introduced him to his ex-wife. I have had dating apps that matched me with exes before. I figure it is quite common. ---
**Author:** ![Smitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Smitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smitty)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-interpret-rupert-holmes-escape-the-pina-colada-song/839694/16 "2019-09-04T18:43:26Z")
I have to conclude that these people are VERY different than the people I hang around with. A couple catches each other, red handed, in the act of attempting to cheat - that doesn’t end with a laugh and a, “Oh, it’s you.” It ends with sirens. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-interpret-rupert-holmes-escape-the-pina-colada-song/839694/17 "2019-09-04T19:46:24Z")
It’s an episode of _Love, American Style_, set to a bubblegum tune. ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-interpret-rupert-holmes-escape-the-pina-colada-song/839694/18 "2019-09-04T20:05:58Z")
Well, if two people who both kinda likes Breakfast at Tiffany’s is enough for one couple then both liking Pina Colada should be good enough for this couple. If anybody doesn’t know, that’s from a song called Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Deep Blue Something. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-interpret-rupert-holmes-escape-the-pina-colada-song/839694/19 "2019-09-04T20:12:45Z")
> [@Author\_Balk](#): > > Well, if two people who both kinda likes Breakfast at Tiffany’s is enough for one couple then both liking Pina Colada should be good enough for this couple. If anybody doesn’t know, that’s from a song called Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Deep Blue Something. Something. The name of the band is “Deep Blue Somethi- Oh. Belay my last. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-interpret-rupert-holmes-escape-the-pina-colada-song/839694/20 "2019-09-04T20:36:30Z")
> [@StusBlues](#): > > What message do you think the song is trying to convey? Love is a very stupid thing. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-interpret-rupert-holmes-escape-the-pina-colada-song/839694.md?page=2)