7. Waterfalls, By TLC
Not actually about waterfalls, TLC’s ballad is about the consequences of drug-related violence and the HIV/AIDS epidemic. It’s not easy to capture the meaning if you just focus on the repeated chorus, “Don’t go chasing waterfalls”. There are a lot of clues to lead you to hear the true meaning behind the soft r&b tune, though. Samples of gunshots are used in the background, and the lyrics themselves are pretty transparent of the much darker implications of the song. Just take a look at these lines from the 4th verse: “His health is fading and he doesn’t know why/Three letters took him to his final resting place.” It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to guess what three letters they might be referring to, especially in the song’s greater context, which talks about a man’s fading health and imminent death. The song was meant to shed light on a devastating issue affecting the population that the government and people were turning their backs on. Knowing that puts a different spin on the song’s inclusion in The Other Guys, that’s for sure.
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