Paul McCartney Claimed This TLC Hit Ripped Off His Song

May 2024 · 2 minute read

The singles from TLC's second album have since gone down in history as some of the greatest songs of the 1990s, and have enjoyed longevity in the 21st century thanks to near-continuous radio play more than 25 years after they were first released.

But ex-Beatles Paul McCartney once suggested in a 2007 interview with The A.V. Club that part of their success should be credited to him. According to McCartney, what Billboard describes as TLC's signature song, "Waterfalls," was lifted directly from his own song of the same name, which was released in 1980 (video above). In the interview, McCartney mentions the song in answer to a question regarding which of his singles deserved to be a bigger hit. McCartney describes the song as "nice," before adding: "In fact, somebody had a hit, a few years ago, using the first line ..."

The opening line of McCartney's song is as follows: "​​Don't go jumping waterfalls, please stick to the lake," which undoubtedly bears a striking resemblance to the chorus of TLC's "Waterfalls": "Don't go chasing waterfalls, please stick to the rivers and the lakes that you're used to." When asked by The A.V. Club whether he thought whether TLC's songwriters — in the case of "Waterfalls," Marqueze Etheridge and production group Organized Noize — had ripped him off, McCartney said he believed they had. "It's like, 'Excuse me?'" said McCartney, describing his reaction to first hearing the TLC hit.

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