Daryl's Pop Music Hall Of Fame: TLC - "Waterfalls" (1995)
Published January 19, 2007
In July of 1995, an incredible heat wave had hit the Midwestern United States, causing a number of deaths. Croatian forces launched Operation Storm against Serbian forces in Krajina, with the cooperation of the ARBiH, and forced them to withdraw to central Bosnia.
TLC (T-Boz, Left Eye and Chilli) had scored the second number one hit from their hit album CrazySexyCool, "Waterfalls." The song was produced by the Organized Noize team and written by Marqueze Etheridge, TLC member Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, and Organized Noize. It would stay at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 for seven weeks.

"Waterfalls" is the best, if not one of the best, R&B tracks ever released. The funky instruments, addicting melody, stylish vocals, and incredible message brought TLC to the height of their fame. The song asks the listener not to overstep what they are capable of or he/she might be in for a disaster: "Don't go chasing waterfalls, please stick to the rivers and the lakes that you're used to / I know that you're gonna have it your way or nothing at all, but I think you're moving too fast..."
The video for "Waterfalls" is just as impressive as the song. We see the TLC threesome dancing in a magical ocean while the camera rapidly shifts between two different scenerios: A mother who tries to stop the fate of her son, who dies in a drug deal, and a man whose obsession with sex leads to his death. The scene where the man brings out a condom that his female partner throws away is extremely powerful. The cinematography in this video is beautiful and it definitely deserved the several MTV Video Music Awards it won late in the Summer of 1995.
TLC would release another successful album, FanMail (1999) that spawned two more number one singles ("No Scrubs" and "Unpretty"). After member Left Eye died in a 2002 car crash while on holiday in La Ceiba, Honduras, the magic was gone. TLC released their 3D album in 2002 without much interest. Their greatest hits package in 2005 was a huge flop, selling only 500,000 copies worldwide. No matter what happens to TLC in the future, they will always have the brilliance of "Waterfalls" on their resume.
- Daryl's Pop Music Hall Of Fame: TLC - "Waterfalls" (1995)
- Published: January 19, 2007
- Type: Review
- Section: Music
- Filed Under: Music: R&B, Music: Pop
- Part of a feature: Daryl's Pop Music Hall of Fame
- Writer: Daryl D
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- Daryl D's personal site
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Comments
You are as passionate about this song as I am! Amazing record and video
an admission, I thought they were singing
"Don't go Jason Waterfalls"
I too was concerned about young MR Waterfalls, especially if Left Eye gets a hold of him. Run free, Jason... run free
Song's ok, xcept for fact that it's a ripoff of the McCartney song. He should at the very least get a writing credit.


Daryl, who thinks that both Democrats and Republicans are ruining our country, is a freelance writer who writes articles on politics, technology, and entertainment. If you want to send him feedback on any of his articles (good or bad) don't hesitate to email him at report345@yahoo.com.


This song is classic. They don't make r&B sounding records like this anymore.