"I Don't Want to Wait" is a song written, recorded, and produced by American singer-songwriter Paula Cole. Cole wrote the song in mid-1996 and released it as second single from her second studio album, This Fire (1996), on October 14, 1997. The single release was successful, reaching No. 11 in the United States and No. 5 in Canada. VH1 ranked "I Don't Want to Wait" as one of the 100 Greatest Songs of the '90s at No. 81.[1] The song later served as the opening theme for American teen drama television series Dawson's Creek.

"I Don't Want to Wait"
U.S. CD single
Single by Paula Cole
from the album This Fire
B-side	"Hitler's Brothers" "Bethlehem"
Released	October 14, 1997 (1997-10-14)
Length	5:19 (album version) 4:07 (radio edit)
Label	Warner Bros. Imago
Songwriter(s)	Paula Cole
Producer(s)	Paula Cole
Paula Cole singles chronology
"Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?" (1997) "I Don't Want to Wait" (1997) "Me" (1998)
Music video
"I Don't Want to Wait" on YouTube

Composition

Cole wrote "I Don't Want to Wait" at her spinet piano in her apartment in New York City during mid-1996.[2] Described by Cole as "a very personal song" she wrote the song when she realized that her grandfather was near the end of his life. The song is about him and his wife, and specifically the relationship between their life and Cole's who realized "I don't want to make some of these mistakes. I really hope I don't" [3] Cole has described the central question of the chorus as "Do you say yes to life? Do you embrace the things that give you joy? Or do you cower back in fear or by culture's machinations keeping you small?"[3]

"I Don't Want to Wait" is in common time with a moderate beat rate of 87 beats per minute, written in the key of G major.[4] Cole originally composed the song in F-sharp major, but when the songbook for the album was prepared, the song was notated in G major.^{[citation needed]} According to Cole, "most sales [...] are to beginners and intermediate musicians", so the publishers opted against the original key.[5]

Music video

The music video for the song was directed by Mark Seliger and Fred Woodward. It was one of Cole's first videos, and was based on the concept of a woman who was immortal and had lovers in different time periods, all of whom died. The cut of the video was originally in chronological order, but for unknown reasons, a cut that was out of order was more frequently aired which led to the directors taking their name off the video, replacing it with the common moniker Alan Smithee.^{[citation needed]}

Track listings

US 7-inch single[6]

A. "I Don't Want to Wait" (edit) – 4:07

B. "Hitler's Brothers" (album version) – 3:35

UK and Australian CD single[7]

1. "I Don't Want to Wait" (edit)
2. "Bethlehem"
3. "Hitler's Brothers"

UK cassette single and German CD single[8][9]

1. "I Don't Want to Wait" (edit)
2. "Bethlehem"

Chart performance

On the US Billboard Hot 100, "I Don't Want to Wait" spent the most consecutive weeks in the top 50 without cracking the top 10, peaking at No. 11. The single ranked at No. 10 on the Hot 100 year-end chart for 1998. In Canada, it is Cole's highest-charting single, peaking at No. 5 on the RPM Top Singles chart, and it also reached No. 27 in Australia and No. 43 in the United Kingdom.

Release history

In popular culture

Screenwriter Kevin Willamson became a fan of Cole's and used "I Don't Want to Wait" as a theme song to his teen drama series Dawson's Creek[3] after being unable to secure the licensing for Alanis Morissette's "Hand in My Pocket".[27] At the time the idea of using an already existing song was somewhat novel for TV as they usually used specifically created songs.[3] The song became sufficiently identified with Dawson's Creek that it was used in parodies of the show, as featured in the film Scary Movie[28] and the "Peterotica" episode of Family Guy.[29]

References

На других языках

[it] I Don't Want to Wait