“Escape” (later known as “Escape (The Pina Colada Song)”) was the highest-charting hit for Rupert Holmes, released off his album Partners in Crime. The song was also number one at the end of the 1970s and at the beginning of the 1980s. 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. Contrary to what many people may believe, this is not a Jimmy Buffett song, nor has he ever covered it on any of his albums.

Escape (The Pina Colada Song) lyrics, Rupert Holmes

I was tired of my lady,
We’d been together to long,
Like a warn out recording,
Of a favorite song.
So while she lay there sleeping,
I read the paper in bed,
And in the personal columns,
There was this letter I read.

If you like Pina Colada’s,
And getting caught in the rain,
If your not into yoga,
If you have half a brain,
If you like making love at midnight,
In the dunes on the cape,
Then I’m the love that you’ve looked for,
Write to me and escape.

I didn’t think about my lady,
I know that sounds kinda mean,
But me and my old lady,
Had fallen into the same old dull routine,
So I wrote to the paper,
Took out a personal ad,
And though I’m nobody’s poet,
I thought it wasn’t half bad.

Yes I like Pina Colada’s,
And getting caught in the rain,
I’m not much into health food,
I am into champagne,
I’ve got to meet you by tomorrow noon,
And cut through all this red tape,
At a bar called O’Malley’s,
Where we’ll plan our escape.

So I waited with high hopes,
And she walked in the place,
I knew her smile in an instant,
I knew the curve of her face,
It was my own lovely lady,
And she said “Oh its you”,
Then we laughed for a moment,
And I said “I never knew”.

That you like Pina Coladas,
And getting caught in the rain,
And the feel of the ocean,
And the taste of champagne,
If you like making love at midnight,
In the dunes on the cape,
Your the lady I’ve looked for,
Come with me and escape.

If you like Pina Colada,
And getting caught in the rain,
If your not into yoga,
If you have half a brain,
If you like making love at midnight,
In the dunes on the cape,
Then I’m the love that you’ve looked for,
Write to me and escape