“Two Piña Coladas”
Garth Brooks
Written by Shawn Camp, Benita Hill, and Sandy Mason
Billboard
#1 (1 week)
May 9, 1998
Radio & Records
#1 (2 weeks)
April 24 – May 1, 1998
Garth hops on the beach bum bandwagon.
The Road to No. 1
Sevens had revitalized Garth Brooks’ career by this point. He’d never stopped being popular, of course, but this album reversed the downward trend of his studio album sales and became his first album since No Fences to launch with four consecutive No. 1 singles. This is the last entry in that run, following “In Another’s Eyes,” “Longneck Bottle,” and “She’s Gonna Make it.”
The No. 1
Clay Walker deserved to be the first artist in this feature to revive the Jimmy Buffett white suburban calypso sound, as he used it to tremendous effect on “Then What?” That single just missed the No. 1 slot but was a bigger hit than many of his entries in this series.
It became the new go to sound for Nashville staff songwriters, and Garth Brooks was the beneficiary of one of the more charming entries in this subgenre. “Two Piña Coladas” works so well because Garth thinks he’s being the cleverest man in history as he delivers the punchline: “Bring me two piña coladas. I want one for each hand.”
He’s goofy and giggly and cracking himself up throughout the record. It felt at the time like he’d finally shaken off the burden of being the biggest country artist of all time and had reminded himself how lucky he was and to start enjoying himself again.
Sure, he’d never go back to being the good old boy from “Friends in Low Places.” After all, he had more Two Piña Coladas money at this point than everyone in the ivory towers combined. But his self-deprecating sense of humor was back, and that makes this one a winner.
The Road From No. 1
Garth Brooks has one more No. 1 single in the nineties, and it’s a non-album track featured on a film soundtrack. We’ll cover it later in 1998.
“Two Piña Coladas” gets a B+.
Every No. 1 Single of the Nineties
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Much like George Strait was establishing himself as The King of Country Music with his recent run of hit singles, Brooks is driving his flag into the ground as country’s premier entertainer and celebrity with fun, loose singles like this. This song gives as good a peak as any into what all the fuss was about the live “Garth” experience in concert.