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Escape (Enrique Iglesias song)
Encyclopedia
"Escape" is a pop
song written by Kara DioGuardi
, Enrique Iglesias
, Steve Morales and David Siegel for Iglesias' 2001 album Escape
. The song is the album's opening track, and was released as its second single in 2002 (see 2002 in music
). The song reached number three in the UK and number twelve in the U.S. charts. There is a Spanish
version of the song, also sung by Iglesias, titled "Escapar".
song composed in common time
and in the key of B major
, with the entire song consisting of a I - IV - VI - V chord progression loop. It is written in verse-chorus form
, and its instrumentation comes from the electric guitar
and keyboard
.
The song's music video
was directed by Dave Meyers
and filmed in the Long Beach
Performing Arts Center and the CityWalk
shopping area in Universal City, California
. It features Enrique and tennis-player Anna Kournikova
as his love interest. The video opens with a sequence of Iglesias performing the song, backed by a live band, in front of a huge crowd in a theater. Throughout the video, there are sequences of Iglesias and Kournikova's relationship. The first sequence is of Iglesias driving through a busy city on a motorbike while Kournikova awaits his arrival. Once he arrives, he attempts to kiss her but she pushes him away.
In the next scene Iglesias follows Kournikova into the ladies room. She catches his eye in the mirror and turns around to kiss him. They continue kissing while sprawled across the bathroom sinks until two security guards pull them apart and take Iglesias away. The scene soon cuts to another scene where another security guard pulls up in a carpark and spots them kissing while lying across the front seats of a car. But, unlike the previous security guards, he leaves them undisturbed and drives away. The video closes with a scene of the theater being emptied, but Kournikova stands and waits in her seat until Iglesias comes over to her after the crowd has left.
"Escape" premiered on MTV
's top-ten chart program Total Request Live
on 30 January 2002, where it reached number one. It was Iglesias's first video to retire from the chart at #1. After its 8 February debut on MuchMusic
's Countdown
, it reached number one for the week of 19 April.
style by Irish
Elvis-impersonator
Kevin Doyle
is included on the 2003 charity album, Even Better than the Real Thing Vol. 1
.
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
song written by Kara DioGuardi
Kara DioGuardi
Kara Elizabeth DioGuardi is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, music publisher, A&R executive, composer and TV personality. She writes music primarily in the light pop-rock, dance, and R&B genres. DioGuardi has worked with many popular artists; her songs have appeared on more than 159...
, Enrique Iglesias
Enrique Iglesias
Enrique Iglesias is a Spanish pop music singer, a son of singer Julio Iglesias.Enrique started his musical career on Mexican label Fonovisa...
, Steve Morales and David Siegel for Iglesias' 2001 album Escape
Escape (Enrique Iglesias album)
Escape is an Enrique Iglesias album recorded in English in 2001.In late 2002, a special edition of the album was released with three extra songs, "Hero" , "Maybe" and "To Love a Woman", a duet with Lionel Richie....
. The song is the album's opening track, and was released as its second single in 2002 (see 2002 in music
2002 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 2002.-Events:*February 3 – U2 perform during the halftime show for Super Bowl XXXVI...
). The song reached number three in the UK and number twelve in the U.S. charts. There is a Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
version of the song, also sung by Iglesias, titled "Escapar".
Music and lyrics
"Escape" is a popPop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
song composed in common time
Common Time
"Common Time" is a science fiction short story written by James Blish. It first appeared in the August 1953 issue of Science Fiction Quarterly and has been reprinted several times: in the 1959 short-story collection Galactic Cluster; in The Testament of Andros ; in The Penguin Science Fiction...
and in the key of B major
B major
In music theory, B major is a major scale based on B. The pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A are all part of the B major scale. Its key signature has five sharps....
, with the entire song consisting of a I - IV - VI - V chord progression loop. It is written in verse-chorus form
Verse-chorus form
Verse-chorus form is a musical form common in popular music and predominant in rock since the 1960s. In contrast to AABA form, which is focused on the verse , in verse-chorus form the chorus is highlighted...
, and its instrumentation comes from the electric guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
and keyboard
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
.
Music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
was directed by Dave Meyers
Dave Meyers (director)
David "Dave" Meyers is an American music video director.-Career:Meyers has directed over 200 music videos including: P!nk's "There You Go", "Most Girls", "You Make Me Sick", "Get The Party Started", "Don't Let Me Get Me", "Feel Good Time", "Stupid Girls", "U + Ur Hand", "So What", "Please Don't...
and filmed in the Long Beach
Long Beach, California
Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...
Performing Arts Center and the CityWalk
Universal CityWalk
Universal CityWalk is the name given to the entertainment and retail districts located adjacent to the theme parks of Universal Parks & Resorts. Originating as an expansion of Universal's first park, Universal Studios Hollywood, CityWalk serves as an entrance plaza from the parking lots to the...
shopping area in Universal City, California
Universal City, California
Universal City is a community in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles County, California, that encompasses the 415 acre property of Universal Studios...
. It features Enrique and tennis-player Anna Kournikova
Anna Kournikova
Anna Sergeyevna Kournikova is a Russian retired professional tennis player. Her beauty and celebrity status made her one of the best known tennis stars worldwide, despite the fact that she never won a WTA singles title. At the peak of her fame, fans looking for images of Kournikova made her name...
as his love interest. The video opens with a sequence of Iglesias performing the song, backed by a live band, in front of a huge crowd in a theater. Throughout the video, there are sequences of Iglesias and Kournikova's relationship. The first sequence is of Iglesias driving through a busy city on a motorbike while Kournikova awaits his arrival. Once he arrives, he attempts to kiss her but she pushes him away.
In the next scene Iglesias follows Kournikova into the ladies room. She catches his eye in the mirror and turns around to kiss him. They continue kissing while sprawled across the bathroom sinks until two security guards pull them apart and take Iglesias away. The scene soon cuts to another scene where another security guard pulls up in a carpark and spots them kissing while lying across the front seats of a car. But, unlike the previous security guards, he leaves them undisturbed and drives away. The video closes with a scene of the theater being emptied, but Kournikova stands and waits in her seat until Iglesias comes over to her after the crowd has left.
"Escape" premiered on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
's top-ten chart program Total Request Live
Total Request Live
Total Request Live is a television series on MTV that featured popular music videos. TRL was MTV's prime outlet for music videos as the network continues to concentrate on reality-based programming. In addition to music videos, TRL featured daily guests...
on 30 January 2002, where it reached number one. It was Iglesias's first video to retire from the chart at #1. After its 8 February debut on MuchMusic
MuchMusic
MuchMusic is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel owned by Bell Media. MuchMusic is dedicated to music-related programs, pop and youth culture.-History:...
's Countdown
Countdown (MuchMusic TV series)
The MuchMusic Top 30 Countdown is a ninety-minute music video program block, that airs on Canadian music television station MuchMusic. Countdown is one of the oldest programs that continues to be aired on Much Music since its debut...
, it reached number one for the week of 19 April.
Cover versions
A cover of the song, performed live in Elvis PresleyElvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
style by Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
Elvis-impersonator
Impersonator
An impersonator is someone who imitates or copies the behavior or actions of another. There are many reasons for someone to be an impersonator, some common ones being as follows:...
Kevin Doyle
Kevin Doyle (singer)
Kevin Doyle is the singer and Elvis Presley-impersonator in the Irish Elvis-tribute band, Elvis - The Way it Was.In 2003, he recorded an Elvis-inspired cover version of Enrique Iglesias's song Escape for the Irish charity CD, Even Better than the Real Thing Vol...
is included on the 2003 charity album, Even Better than the Real Thing Vol. 1
Even Better Than the Real Thing Vol. 1
Even Better Than the Real Thing Vol. 1 is an Irish charity album featuring a variety of artists performing acoustic cover versions of popular songs. It was released in 2003 by RMG Chart Entertainment Ltd. The songs on the album were recorded live and acoustic on The Ray D'Arcy Show on Today FM.The...
.
Formats and track listings
These are the formats and track listings of major single releases of "Escape".- Europe CD1
- "Escape" (album version)
- "Escape" (Giorgio Moroder & Fernando Garibay club mix)
- "Escape" (StonebridgeStonebridge (DJ)StoneBridge is the pseudonym for the Swedish DJ and record producer, Sten Hallström.-History:StoneBridge won international renown with the remix of the 1993 hit "Show Me Love" with Robin S. Until then, he had been running the Swedish DJ/remix outfit Swemix, formed at the end of the 1980s...
radio mix) - "Escape" (video)
- Europe CD2
- "Escape" (album version)
- "Escape" (Thunderpuss club mix)
- "Interview"
- Germany
- "Escape" (Album Version)
- "Escape" (Boogieman remix)
- "Escape" (StoneBridge radio mix)
- "Hero" (Thunderpuss remix)
- "Escape" (video)
- UK 2-Track
- "Escape" (Album Version)
- "Escape" (Boogieman remix)
Credits and personnel
- Lead vocals: Enrique Iglesias
- Background vocals: Kara DioGuardi, Steve Morales
- Producer: Steve Morales
- Co-producer: Enrique Iglesias
- Engineers: Fabian Marasciullo, Shane Stoner
- Assistant Engineers: Marc Lee
- Electric GuitarElectric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
: Aaron Fishbein - KeyboardKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
: David Siegel - Audio mixing: Sebastian Krys
- Production Coordinator: Ivy Skoff
Peak positions
| Chart (2002) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian ARIA Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956... Singles Chart |
7 |
| Austrian Singles Chart | 5 |
| Danish Singles Chart | 15 |
| Dutch Top 40 Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 is a weekly music chart, which started as the "Veronica Top 40", because the offshore radio station Radio Veronica was the first to introduce it. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" until 1974, when the station was forced to stop broadcasting... |
3 |
| New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart | 24 |
| Norwegian Singles Chart | 4 |
| Romanian Singles Chart | 2 |
| Swedish Singles Chart | 14 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 11 |
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
3 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 12 |
| U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary | 25 |
| U.S. Billboard Adult Top 40 | 33 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play Hot Dance Club Play The Hot Dance Club Songs chart is a weekly national survey of the songs that are most popular in U.S. dance clubs... |
1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Latin Tracks | 2 |
| U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream | 7 |
| U.S. Billboard Top 40 Tracks Top 40 Tracks Top 40 Tracks is a defunct airplay chart from Billboard Magazine. It was created in 1998, when Billboard Magazine changed the airplay profile of The Hot 100 Airplay to include more R&B, Country, and Rock stations to its profile . To preserve the notion of the former chart, Top 40 Tracks was... |
11 |
Year-end charts
| Chart (2002) | Position |
|---|---|
| Australia Top 100 Singles | 42 |