Everyone knows the "Piña Colada Song," but how many of us have ever really considered what kind of message the catchy tune sends? All it takes is a moment of pausing and considering the song's lyrics to make one begin to wonder just what it's trying to say.
The 1979 hit song by Rupert Holmes, actually titled "Escape (The Piña Colada Song)," has become a pop culture staple. There's hardly a person who wouldn't recognize the song's iconic chorus. It's a memorable melody that children know as well as adults. Most know it for the laid back tone and the chorus and fixate on the titular coconut beverage. Few recognize it as a song about the aftermath of attempted infidelity.
The story of the song plays out like this: the narrator is a man who has grown weary of his "lady" so he begins looking through personal ads in the newspaper. One catches his eye and he sends a response. He makes plans to meet his fellow piña colada and escape his monotonous life, only when he meets with the mystery woman it turns out to be none other than his "lady." The two laugh the whole thing off and seemingly develop an even stronger bond as they go forward together. It's a simple little story that is equal parts cute and disturbing. For this reason, it lends itself extremely well to two very different interpretations as to what Holmes means to say with the song.
An optimistic view of the song might lead one to see the moral of the story as one about rekindling an old love. The twist ending of the song reveals that the narrator's significant other had grown just as weary as he had. The relationship was clearly suffering from both ends. However, upon meeting at the bar, the two come to realize that there are still many things they never knew about each other. The hopeful ending to the song implies that the two can now explore their previously unknown mutual love for piña coladas and getting caught in the rain. Even a relationship that had become so dry that both partners began seeking outside attention is salvageable when people just communicate with one another... even if said communication occurs through anonymous personal ads.
A more pessimistic view of the story fixates on what it actually takes to come to the reunion. The narrator justifies his plans to "escape" from his lover by asserting that their routine had become "dull." He looks to cheat on her out of nothing more than boredom. As he later finds out, she did the exact same thing. While the optimist's view sees their mistakes as balancing out and creating a cute situation that works out for the best, the pessimist's view remains fixated on the fact that these are two people so detached that they were both totally willing to abandon each other. The fact that the narrator's wife aimed to do the same awful thing he did hardly absolves his heartlessness. An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind and an attempted infidelity for an infidelity is hardly cause for a happily ever after. It's hard to imagine these two people having a healthy relationship going forward when both of them were already so willing to ditch the other.
When the song first released it was simply titled "Escape." The "(The Piña Colada Song)" part was added later when that title became the one that most knew the song by. This is clear evidence that many listeners only focus on the chorus instead of morally grey subject matter of the lyrics. The people don't care what kind of message the song is trying to end, only how catchy it is and how it stands as an excuse to enjoy more pinñ coladas. Whether you buy into the optimistic view or the pessimistic one is irrelevant, at the end of the day, we all end up with that chorus stuck in our head and feeling a little thirsty.
