why is the song by paula cole used as dawson's creek's theme song when its obviously about war?

Question

it doesnt make sense to me

Answer 1

I really can't give you an exact "correct" answer on this one, but I will explain it the way I understand it. First, let me get the silly stuff out of the way so I can move on with the serious point. First, you could say they chose this song for this show because someone on the show, or behind the set (directors, writers, producers, etc.) may really just love Paula Cole as an artist and that being the case, the show's theme song was this persons favorite Paula Cole song. Ok, ok, time to get serious. Here is my honest belief why the song "I Don't want to Wait" by Paula Cole was the chosen one to be this shows theme song. Well, like you said, the song is about war obviously from my understanding of the lyrics.

The show Dawson's Creek is about a small coastal, Massachusetts town named Capeside, Dawson's Creek tells the story of four teenagers as they struggle through adolescence. This is particularly true for 15-year-olds Dawson Leery (James Van Der Beek), an introspective dreamer and Joey Potter (Katie Holmes), a precocious tomboy unaware of her beauty. Best friends since childhood, they are about to enter that confusing time in life where nothing is the way it was and nothing is as it seems.

As you see in the plotline information above, which was taken from IMDb by the way. You can locate that info at: http://imdb.com/title/tt0118300/plotsummary , you will notice the word adolescence. Well according to MSN Encarta's dictionary, the 2 definitions of adolescence would be:

1) (Noun) - time preceding adulthood: the period from puberty to adulthood in human beings.

2) (Noun) - intermediate stage of development: the stage in the development of something such as a civilization before it reaches maturity

I look at it this way, the characters in Dawson's Creek are struggling to get from puberty to adulthood. Well I look at the lyrics of the song, located here: http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/televisiontvthemelyrics-action/dawsonscreek.htm , and look at the plotline of the show itself, and the song really does not show me people struggling to get from puberty to adulthood. What I see in the song is someone who ended up with a life they didn't want, and they wish it could be the same as it is now, but have the new time (their future life) to be as it was when things were good. I look at definition 2 of the word adolescence and BAM, it makes sense. Well in the song, you have some lyrics that go like this, "He showed up all wet on the rainy front step.
Wearing shrapnel in his skin.
And the war he saw lives inside him still,
It's so hard to be gentle and warm.
The years pass by and now he has granddaughters"

Well in this verse of the song, I can see how the man who returns is someone, because of this war, he had to grow up fast before he even reached maturity. So in the show, these so called teenagers are going through the struggles of their coming adolescence, but because of certain events in this time of their lives, they become more civilized before they are actually fully matured. They also wish they could skip this so called years of their lives, but have this new so-called life after high school be the same type of fun as they were still in high school. You know like saying, "You know what, I sure think this is a fun stage of my life, but really, I wish I could skip this point of my life, you know like a high school grad, but have the same type of fun I am having now." Yeah that makes sense, "Wish I could fastfoward 5 years, but keep the same good old events." Not because it's Hollywood at work again, but because of certain struggling events during the time of adolescence, they are forced to grow older before they could of fully matured. Now the song title is of course, "I Don't Want to Wait." If you ask me, the song is saying, I don't want to wait all this time to get to this point of my life, but in the show, because of this adolescence, they would rather skip this so called maturing stage, and become adults right off the bat, but keeping the so-called "high school fun times" I mean come on, we all know we wanted at one point to skip forward some years of our lives, you know like being 14, but wishing you could skip to your 20th B-day but yet knowing when we are 20 we will have more responsibilities, so lets get older, but lets keep the current responbility levels as we had when we were 14. They would rather be going through their adolescence years, but skip all the struggles that come along with this and just be going through puberty one day, and the next day, they would rather be adults, or fear their struggles or their final outcome in life. So that's how I see it, these characters would rather go from kid one day, and BAM the next, an adult. They don't want to wait and find out what their lives will be, they want to see it now, without going through all the struggles of this good one day and bad the next day kind of life, but keeping that old 14 year old lifestyle of fun and games with no added responsibilities like an older person has. Like I said from the get go, this is not an accurate answer, just my honest and hopefully not too confusing answer. Look how the song fits the show. Remember, in the song, the young man off to war had to grow up fast, but in the process he wanted to get older, but he did not want that new so-called adult load. Funny, we want to get older when we are younger, but still be able to play those games and have the same old fun. The man in the song is old and has grandchildren. He wanted that age, but never wanted the responsibility that comes with the older age. Also it could possibly be the life he feared of having and got that life anyways. So I guess to really make all these words make sense, you can say the the shows characters want skip parts of their lives, because they don't want to wait, but keep having fun like they were still young. But if that's the case on the show or someone in real life now, you might not want to wait, but, by waiting you will be able to handle situations that life later throws at you, why you say, because you waited and struggled through the problems and learned the correct way to handle them, but if you don't want to wait and skip that, you know definition 2, becoming a civilization (citizen) before fully maturing, well life will always be a struggle. Also, you can look at it just this way if you want, in the song, I am under the impression that a person or the person does not want to wait to see the outcomes of their life or the life's of others, or even possibly end up with a life they never wanted in the first place, so they would like to see the outcome now, and not wait for it to slowly open up in front of their eyes. Why wait? In the show, the characters do not want to wait and see what life brings them, they want to know now. They want to be adults and be out of high school but still have that same high school fun, which they can keep wishing for, but in reality they get to that age that wanted to be and realize that it's not fun and games, but boy they want it to be fun. They do not want to have the life of the adolescence, so they want to grow up fast and skip the life they have now and go to the life they will have after high school, while at the same time, hoping the times will be the same. Why wait? Well to wait, you have to have patience, and from what I here, patience is a virtue, and what is virtue again, well out of the 7 different definitions (located here: http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_/virtue.html my favorite one is a quality that is morally good. See, if you go ahead and have patience once yours or someone's adolescence years begin, then you can learn from the mistakes of others, as well as your own mistakes and from that you will grow and become a mature adult, unlike those who hate to wait through these confusing and dark times of their lives, and become adults (the civilization), but an un-mature adult at that. So again, I am saying certain things happen in the characters lives as their adolescence years begin, and truthfully the don't want to wait and see the outcome, they would rather see the outcome now, or they may fear the possible outcome of their life. Just like this verse from the song, "I don't want to wait for our lives to be over,
I want to know right now what will it be.
I don't want to wait for our lives to be over,
Will it be yes or will it be sorry?"

See in those lyrics, someone is wanting to know something before their life is up, they want to know now, thay wish to know the outcome now, not 10, 20, or even 40 years, but now. Remember patience through the years of your life, and you will know one day, but, you will be the mature civilization unlike the non-matured one for rushing instead of waiting and trying to make it all fun and nothing bad. Oh, and to finish this loooooooong, more than likely incorrect answer, I should of just typed, because the Dawson's Creek characters do not want to wait their whole life for their certain answers to certain question in their struggling lives, they want the answer now, just like these lyrics here:

So open up your morning light,
And say a little prayer for I
You know that if we are to stay alive
And see the peace in every eye...

She had two babies, one was six months, one was three
In the war of '44...
Every telephone ring, every heartbeat stinging
When she thought it was God calling her
Oh, would her son grow to know his father?

I don't want to wait for our lives to be over,
I want to know right now what will it be
I don't want to wait for our lives to be over,
Will it be yes or will it be...sorry?

He showed up all wet on the rainy front step
Wearing shrapnel in his skin
And the war he saw lives inside him still,
It's so hard to be gentle at war
The years pass by and now he has granddaughters

I don't want to wait for our lives to be over,
I want to know right now what will it be
I don't want to wait for our lives to be over,
Will it be yes or will it be...sorry?

So you look at me from across the room
You're wearing your anguish again
Believe me I know the feeling
It sucks you into the jaws of anger

So you look at me a little more deeply
All we have is this very moment
And I don't want to do what his father, and his father, and his father did
I wanna be here now

So open up your morning light,
And say a little prayer for I
You know that if we are to stay alive
And see the peace in every eye...

I don't want to wait for our lives to be over,
I want to know right now what will it be
I don't want to wait for our lives to be over,
Will it be yes or will it be...sorry?

I don't want to wait for our lives to be over,
I want to know right now what will it be
I don't want to wait for our lives to be over,
Will it be yes or will it be...sorry?

So open up your morning light,
And say a little prayer for I
You know that if we are to stay alive
And see the love in every eye...

And I believe that the last line in these lyrics, "And see the love in every eye..." I see patience hidden all in that line. And follow me, patience is a virtue, and virtue according to definition (6) in the MSN Encarta dictionary says, "worth: the worth, advantage, or beneficial quality of something" And to see the love in every eye . . .that's an advantage and benificail quaulity of patience if you ask me. I don't want to wait to see if someone loves me, I want to know now. Hey, I know when it all comes down to it, it deals with love, love for ones self. People do not want to wait and see if they are loved by someone, they want to know now, yes or no, but not later, but now, but fear that they may never have this wanted love, you know like not wanting a certain lifestyle (homeless person). That's what the song and show are about as well, and that's how I see this song being picked for the show. I will always be patient and wait for the answer, whether I am waiting for love, people, my lifestyle, etc. etc. I truly believe if you do wait, you will be a fully functional mature adult and not a un-mature one. Please do not take this looooooong answer as a joke, but take it as all seriousness. I bet when you submitted your question you did not want to wait, but wanted to see an answer ASAP. I bet there may have been some responses you might of thought of that you really did not want to see or read (perhaps this answer being that kind). Don't be ashamed to admit that you did not want to wait long for an answer, but you wished for an answer, but an answer that makes you feel as if nothing has changed. You know, like becoming more useful, but still having the time feel the same as before you knew this answer. Just admit it, you kept hitting the refresh button to see if your question was ansewered the way you were hoping it would be. Well if you did wait, your paitience may of paid off, because this is the longest and most serious ansewer I have given. Now, I must continue to wait for the answer to my submitted question. And you know what, I could care less if I do not get an answer to my question 1 minute, 2 hours, or even 2 days from now, but as long as I have plenty of years left here on this earth, my patience will pay off, and I will grow from that experience, making me grow into an mature civilization (adult), but maturity does not come with a certain number, it effects not just some young pre-teens to 21 year olds, but it effects those who are 30 years old to those who are 40 years of age. Put it this way, just because someone is 30, does not mean that adult of 30 years is more mature then some 16 year old. Trust me, I have met just as many un-mature 30 year olds then I have 16 year olds. Just remember this, patience brings forth knowledge over time, and the more patience you have at a younger age, the more mature you will be in you're later years of life. Must you know now, learn to take the right steps into a horrible situation to gain the experience. With experience comes knowledge, and you and I both know that knowledge is power, and power brings you the strength to overcome that which you were not able to overcome before. Love, it all boils down to love. If you are able to learn the experience to gain the power (knowledge) to overcome that which you could not overcome before, then I can tell you that just because you were willing to mature into this mature adult that can overcome things thay you could not overcome before, you do not have to wait to see if this certain person loves you or if your life will turn out the way you don't want it to, but you gaining the knowledge and power to overcome obstactles once too difficult to do so, you should already know that you have someone that does love you. That person who loves you would be you. Knowing that I have so much love just for my self, the future of my lifestyle looks so much better, because overcoming those once extreme obstacles makes my confidence on my life and future that much better and more positive looking. I mean come on, anyone who is willing to learn the steps, to learn the experience, to gain the power by knowledge, to overcome things that could not be overcome before, has some majar patience in life, and love for ones self, and that my friend is the true meaning of surviving this so called adolescence life that will make and can make you grow to an adult, but an uncivilized one at that. Really I can't think of many things on how this song is and was chosen to be a part of this show. It's about love and wanting answers to questions now, but keeping the times fun and easy the way a young child has things. You know that you have to wait and that these things shall come into play, but the lack of patience makes you curious as to what will happen. You know it will, but when, what, and how will it happen is the unanswered question. Afraid of the possible failure of a wanted and fantastic success, or failure to become something you do not want to become (homeless) is one BIG example as to one of the many holdings from the future. The songs on the soundtrack, just like the show, speak to that portion of the population that didn't spend all of high school being the big man on campus. In fact, few of the songs on Songs from Dawson's Creek ,Volume 1 evoke any moments from the show, even for a male who has seen every episode multiple times. Basically, they are the soundtrack to not knowing what you want, but definitely knowing you want something. They are all thematically and sonically different, but they all have a profound (and typically over-dramatic) sense of longing. Though it sounds like the soundtrack to a tampon commercial, Sixpence None the Richer's "Kiss Me" feels exactly like those tense moments before you kiss someone new. There's a song by Wood called "Stay You" that perfectly distills the struggle between wanting things to be different but still wanting everything to remain the same (if you follow my meaning). And even though the lyrics are actually about some 1940s housewife whose husband goes off to war, Paula Cole's "I Don't Want To Wait" evokes that feeling of wanting to move on to the next stage of your life (college, work, world travel, joining the circus, or whatever) but being completely afraid of making mistakes and ending up in a gutter somewhere. Remember my words, I type them with all seriousness and I pray that you can find time to wait on those things which will happen. Look at it this way, it will happen, the answers you always wanted, but instead of not wanting to wait, get rid of that kind of thinking and put it in another way, "You are no longer waiting for the answer(s) and outcomes in your life, but really, the answer(s) and outcomes await you." To close this (well depending on the person) so called what ever you want to call it answer, I would like to say that I do hope this has helped the original poster and possibly future answer givers. I hope this answer makes sense, even though it does not at times, but shoot me an email for a detailed breakdown of this . . . well . . . detailed answer. Also, It should be duly noted that because the show was a ratings hit (at least in the first three seasons) that it was often used as a launching pad for bands to gain exposure to a coveted teenage audience, so perhaps the songs that appeared on these soundtracks were simply about marketing. This could be true for some of the songs, but I truly believe that the song "I Don't Want to Wait", has a very good meaning. Wait, I mean to say that I think that the song, even though not related to the times that are Dawson's Creek, I do believe they have the same meaning and that's why I think the song was picked for the theme to this show. Sometimes 2 different things can seem to be referring 2 different events/times, but in reality, the 2 are dealing with the same issue. So for an official answer, "The song's meaning is about wanting this or wanting that, but afraid you will not get this or that or the things you wanted in life, and the show I feel has the same message as the song, as for real life as well, and that wanting this and wanting that out of life, but being afraid that failure will prevent you from having the life that you feel is for you. That's my answer and I am sticking to it.

Take care,
J

Answer 2

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
why is the song by paula cole used as dawson's creek's theme song when its obviously about war?
it doesnt make sense to me

Answer 3

Take The Power back by Rage Against The Machine

Answer 4

Who knows. But it's a good song anyway.