Paula Cole's 1996 hit "I Don't Want To Wait" has returned to its rightful place as Dawson's Creek's iconic theme song. "This is a result of fans' protestations, and I’m very touched and very humbled by that," Cole tells Billboard.
Ever since Dawson's Creek's first two seasons came out on VHS, "I Don't Want To Wait" has been conspicuously absent from every version of the series on streaming and home video. Sony Pictures Entertainment, the show's production company, replaced it with "Run Like Mad" by Jann Arden, which had been written as an option for the theme song when the teen soap was still in development, in order to save money.
The theme song that's now on Netflix, however, isn't actually the original version of "I Don't Want To Wait." Cole pulled a Taylor Swift before Taylor Swift herself did, rerecording several of her own hits in 2015 to circumvent her "corrupt" recording contract with Warner Records, and the rerecorded version is the one that's now been licensed for Dawson's Creek.
"Sony finally listened and contacted me and we made a deal using my new re-recorded master," Cole tells Billboard. "It supports me, the artist."
Dawson's Creek fans, I'm thrilled to announce that — at long last — you will hear Paula Cole's iconic song I Don't Want to Wait when you watch the opening credits! pic.twitter.com/quRggJQvn4
— Netflix (@netflix) September 3, 2021
It’s true. I re-recorded “I Don’t Want To Wait”, and they are using the master. All artists should be compensated for their intellectual work. Thank you @SonyTV @netflix and most of all the fans who made this happen. That’s the power of patience & persistence. Grateful. https://t.co/p8eUJ11r54
— Paula Cole (@paulacolemusic) September 3, 2021
