# Kate Bush and Rupert Holmes wrote the same song **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [March 15, 2025, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-bush-and-rupert-holmes-wrote-the-same-song/1015591 "2025-03-15T02:24:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![LUNAROXAS](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lunaroxas/32/18718_2.png) [@LUNAROXAS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LUNAROXAS)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-bush-and-rupert-holmes-wrote-the-same-song/1015591/1 "2025-03-15T02:24:37Z")
[“Escape (The Piña Colada Song)”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zROIlspgOjM) by Rupert Holmes is about a guy who is so bored with his current partner that he seeks out a woman who advertised in the personals about liking, among other things, piña coladas. They meet only for the dude to figure out the woman is his current partner. [“Babooshka”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xckBwPdo1c) by Kate Bush is about a wife disguises herself as another woman, the eponymous Babooshka, and sends her husband love letters. The husband, intrigued, agrees to meet the woman, who strikes him as—to borrow from the lyrics—“uncanny, how she reminds him of his little lady.” They’re the same song written from different perspectives. That is all. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-bush-and-rupert-holmes-wrote-the-same-song/1015591/2 "2025-03-15T02:43:02Z")
The plot of Robert F. Young’s “Doll-Friend” features a husband who goes to a dance-hall and becomes entranced with the personality of the dance android’s operator, who turns out to be his wife sneaking out. _Amazing Science Fiction_, July 1959. ---
**Author:** ![LUNAROXAS](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lunaroxas/32/18718_2.png) [@LUNAROXAS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LUNAROXAS)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-bush-and-rupert-holmes-wrote-the-same-song/1015591/3 "2025-03-15T04:26:36Z")
By God, the fact that this story has appeared across so many media makes me think it’s actually happened to someone, somewhere, and at some point. I can’t wait to get married and cheat on my wife _with_ my wife. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-bush-and-rupert-holmes-wrote-the-same-song/1015591/4 "2025-03-15T04:59:03Z")
> [@LUNAROXAS](#): > > I can’t wait to get married and cheat on my wife _with_ my wife. Not me; I’m looking to get paralyzed in a crazy foreign war and then ineffectually threaten to get my gun and put my cheating wife in the ground if only I could get out of this chair. [For god’s sakes, turn around!](https://youtu.be/hCVe11AX7Uk?si=nlzUeMbwRkl5jhmy) Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-bush-and-rupert-holmes-wrote-the-same-song/1015591/5 "2025-03-15T05:14:40Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > Not me; I’m looking to get paralyzed in a crazy foreign war and then ineffectually threaten to get my gun and put my cheating wife in the ground if only I could get out of this chair. Is there anything Cake won’t cover? ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-bush-and-rupert-holmes-wrote-the-same-song/1015591/6 "2025-03-15T05:40:28Z")
I hope not; their covers are always interesting and often superior to the original performance. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-bush-and-rupert-holmes-wrote-the-same-song/1015591/7 "2025-03-15T05:41:17Z")
> [@LUNAROXAS](#): > > They’re the same song written from different perspectives. I made this same observation about ten years ago, when I was on an 80s pop binge. They’re not exactly alike, but they’re definitely alike. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-bush-and-rupert-holmes-wrote-the-same-song/1015591/8 "2025-03-15T06:35:03Z")
> [@LUNAROXAS](#): > > By God, the fact that this story has appeared across so many media makes me think it’s actually happened to someone, somewhere, and at some point. > > I can’t wait to get married and cheat on my wife _with_ my wife. [John Candy in _Who’s Harry Crumb_] Not so fast…it was _you_ who was having an affair with your husband all along! [/JC in WHC] ---
**Author:** ![Moonrise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moonrise/32/14764_2.png) [@Moonrise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonrise)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-bush-and-rupert-holmes-wrote-the-same-song/1015591/9 "2025-03-15T09:42:59Z")
Well, the _mood_, for one thing is completely different. ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-bush-and-rupert-holmes-wrote-the-same-song/1015591/10 "2025-03-15T10:36:26Z")
I have always hated that Pina Colada song. One wishes for a realistic rewrite in which, at the end reveal, the girlfriend gives the guy a resounding slap, says “We are done, you cheating bastard”, and walks away never to return. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-bush-and-rupert-holmes-wrote-the-same-song/1015591/11 "2025-03-15T11:06:00Z")
But she wrote the Personals ad? I agree with hating the song, though. TIL what _Babooshka_ was about. All I ever hears was babooshka, babooshka, babooshka… ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-bush-and-rupert-holmes-wrote-the-same-song/1015591/12 "2025-03-15T12:16:31Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > But she wrote the Personals ad? True, they were both cheating. I just hate the cutesy ending. It should have ended up in a blazing fight and irrevocable breakup. At least, that’s what would likely happen in real life. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-bush-and-rupert-holmes-wrote-the-same-song/1015591/13 "2025-03-15T12:24:11Z")
In some circles it was mocked as the “The Penis Colitis Song.” ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-bush-and-rupert-holmes-wrote-the-same-song/1015591/14 "2025-03-15T12:43:23Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > For god’s sakes, turn around! …bright eyes. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-bush-and-rupert-holmes-wrote-the-same-song/1015591/15 "2025-03-15T12:48:10Z")
_So I waited with high hopes_ _And she walked in the place_ _I knew her smile in an instant_ _She threw her drink in my face_ _It was one pissed off lady_ _She said, “Oh fuck, it’s you”_ _And I laughed for a moment_ _Until I got whacked by her shoe_ ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-bush-and-rupert-holmes-wrote-the-same-song/1015591/16 "2025-03-15T12:49:38Z")
> [@LUNAROXAS](#): > > They’re the same song written from different perspectives. I see some key differences in these songs. In “Escape”, both the man and the woman are seeking a new lover; they’re both surprised when they discover the person they’re meeting is their current lover. In “Babooshka”, the woman knows she is writing to her husband. Then, in a very implausible ending, he doesn’t recognize his wife when they meet. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-bush-and-rupert-holmes-wrote-the-same-song/1015591/17 "2025-03-15T14:05:03Z")
I like to sing the Pina Colada song, with a snarl of disappointment at the line, “oh, it’s you.” 🫩 ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-bush-and-rupert-holmes-wrote-the-same-song/1015591/18 "2025-03-15T21:13:01Z")
If my husband referred to me as “my old lady” I’d be looking elsewhere, too. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-bush-and-rupert-holmes-wrote-the-same-song/1015591/19 "2025-03-15T21:36:01Z")
Shortly after Pina Colada came out, our local alternative newspaper (remember them?) ran an ad in the personals section (remember those?). I can’t remember the entire ad, but I remember its opening and closing. _If you like pink Ford Granadas You’re into bondage and pain_ (something something something something) _Get in touch with my ex-wife._ ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2025, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-bush-and-rupert-holmes-wrote-the-same-song/1015591/20 "2025-03-16T05:00:43Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > All I ever hears was babooshka, babooshka, babooshka How is it pronounced? BA-boo-shka, or ba-BOOSH-ka? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-bush-and-rupert-holmes-wrote-the-same-song/1015591.md?page=2)