"Terminal" is a song by British-American singer-songwriter

Rupert Holmes David Goldstein (born February 24, 1947), better known as Rupert Holmes, is a British-American composer, singer-songwriter, dramatist and author. He is widely known for the hit singles "Escape (The Piña Colada Song)" (1979) and " Him" (1980). ...

, released as a single in 1974. The song is included on his 1974 debut album, ''Widescreen'' on

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...

. The orchestrations on the recording were written and conducted by Holmes. The album was produced by Jeffrey Lesser. "Terminal" was backed with "Bagdad", a track also from ''Widescreen''. Some promotional copies were issued in a special sleeve (not actually a picture sleeve, but rather an art sleeve) describing the song. In 1975, after Holmes' self-titled second Epic album was released, Epic again issued "Terminal" as an A-side (Epic 50161), backed with "Deco Lady" from his second album. Neither single release charted. "Terminal" is a popular song in the Philippines, and has subsequently been

covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

by Filipino singers Julius Obregon on the 1974 album ''A Friend to You'',

Sharon Cuneta Sharon Gamboa Cuneta-Pangilinan ( , ; born January 6, 1966) is a Filipino actress, singer, television host, and socialite. Regarded as one of the most successful and highest-earning individuals in the Philippine entertainment industry, she has ...

on the 2006 album ''Isn't It Romantic?'', and

Piolo Pascual Piolo Jose Nonato Pascual (, born January 12, 1977) is a Filipino film and television actor, singer, model, and producer. Early life Piolo Jose Nonato Pascual was born on January 12, 1977, in Ospital ng Maynila Medical Center located in Malate ...

on the 2009 album ''Decades''. In Cuneta's version, its lyrics are delivered from a female point of view; the line "I had to get home to the kids and the wife" was changed to "I had to get back to the kids and my life".

Content

A married family man "working for a computer" on

Wall Street Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for t ...

meets a woman at a bus terminal, and the two have a one-day fling in which he calls in sick from work. His lust for life awakened by the fling, he considers ending his current life and chasing her, but he decides against it and returns to his mundane life that afternoon. Some time later, he returns to the terminal, reminiscing while realizing he will almost certainly never see her again and regretting his decision. He describes his transition back to normal life as a

terminal illness Terminal illness or end-stage disease is a disease that cannot be cured or adequately treated and is expected to result in the death of the patient. This term is more commonly used for progressive diseases such as cancer, dementia or advanced he ...

, as if he is "living dead."

Personnel

- vocals, piano, orchestration, conductor *

Elliott Randall Elliott Randall (born June 15, 1947) is an American guitarist best known for being a session musician with popular artists. Randall played the well-known guitar solos from Steely Dan's song "Reelin' in the Years" and Irene Cara's song " Fame". The ...

- acoustic guitar, electric guitar *

Jay Berliner Jay Berliner (born May 24, 1940 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American guitarist who has worked with Harry Belafonte, Ron Carter, Charles Mingus, and Van Morrison, among others. Career Berliner had his first television experience at age seven w ...

- acoustic guitar *Sal DeTroia - acoustic guitar, electric guitar * Al Rogers - drums * John Miller - electric bass *Anahid Ajemian, Charles McCracker, David Nadien, Elliot Rosoff, Manny Green, Harry Lookofskey, Irving Spice, Israel Chorberg, John Palanchian, Joseph Malignaggi, Michael Comins, Paul Gershman, Ruth Buffington, Sidney Kaufman - violin *Alan Schulman, George Koutzen, Harry Cykman, Jesse Levy, Maurice Bialkin, Sally Rosoff, Seymour Barab, Toby Saks - cello

References

1974 songs 1974 singles Rupert Holmes songs Songs written by Rupert Holmes Epic Records singles Songs about roads {{1970s-rock-song-stub