Waterfalls Lyrics
Don't go jumping waterfalls
Please keep to the lake
People who jump waterfalls
Sometimes can make mistakes
[Chorus]
And I need love
Yeah, I need love
Like a second needs an hour
Like a raindrop needs a shower
Yeah, I need love every minute of the day
And it wouldn't be the same
If you ever should decide to go away
[Instrumental Break]
[Chorus]
And I need love
Yeah, I need love
Like a castle needs a tower
Like a garden needs a flower
Yeah, I need love every minute of the day
And it wouldn't be the same
If you ever should decide to go away
Don't go chasing polar bears
In the great unknown
Some big friendly polar bear
Might want to take you home
[Chorus]
And I need love
Yeah, I need love
Like a second needs an hour
Like a raindrop needs a shower
Yeah, I need love every minute of the day
And it wouldn't be the same
If you ever should decide to go away
[Verse 3]
Don't run after motor cars
Please stay on the side
Someone's glossy motor car
Might take you for a ride
[Chorus]
And I need love
Yeah, I need love
Like a castle needs a tower
Like a garden needs a flower
Yeah, I need love, said I need love
Like a raindrop needs a shower
Like a second needs an hour
Every minute of the day
And it wouldn't be the same
If you ever should decide to go away
About
‘Waterfalls’ is basically saying don’t go doing a load of dangerous stuff, ’cause I need you. And that’s a kind of more mature thought for me than I would have been able to have done 20 years ago, ’cause I just didn’t realise that it’s not all gonna be here for ever. That’s the kind of thing you realise when you pass 30.
-Paul McCartney
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
The only song that was written before I came to record was ‘Waterfalls’… ‘Waterfalls’ could have been called ‘I Need Love’ but that would have been too ordinary. I just had this waterfalls and lakes idea, from the notices you see in American tourist resorts, and it stuck. Halfway through the album, making it all up as I went along, I got a bit bored. I had finished about eight tracks by then and I thought I would do something different. So I decided to do a song that was already written, a track left over from the last Wings album, and that was my favourite at the time. That’s why it’s included. The original lyrics were just working lyrics, gut lyrics, just spewed out. I thought I’d have to get serious and sensible and change them. Lyrics like that I don’t trust. But in time, I got to like them and I thought I should add electric piano and a distant string synthesiser like a mad Swiss orchestra on a mountaintop. And it worked! A lot of people have rung up about that one and said that it’s their favourite. So when you get such a good feeling, you think that perhaps it should be a single. – [x]
- 1.Coming Up
- 3.On the Way
- 4.Waterfalls
- 5.Nobody Knows
- 8.Frozen Jap
- 9.Bogey Music
- 10.Darkroom