Paula Cole's 'I Don't Want to Wait' is back as the Dawson's Creek theme song on Netflix

Ruth Kinane
·2 min read

You don't have to wait for your ears to be happy anymore, Dawson's Creek fans!

On Friday, Netflix shared some good news with fans of '90s teen drama. "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!" tweeted the streaming service's account, confirming that the original theme song is returning to the streamable version of the beloved show.

Since the teen smash series — which ran from 1998 to 2003 on the WB and starred James Van Der Beek, Katie Holmes, Joshua Jackson, and Michelle Williams — arrived on the streamer in November 2020, instead of hearing the familiar theme tune during the Dawson's Creek opening credits, viewers were instead greeted by "Run Like Mad" by Jann Arden while they settled into their binge. (We wouldn't be surprised if the "skip intro" function was used swiftly and often.)

Everett Collection

"I Don't Want to Wait" has been absent from streamable and DVD versions of the series for years due to the fact that Sony only purchased the on-air rights to the track. Over the years, fans have been vocal on social media about their wish to see the original song reinstated. Thankfully, as reported by The New York Times, Sony has now made a deal with Cole that allows for her song to be used across all streaming platforms. For this to happen, Cole re-recorded a new master for "I Don't Want to Wait" and subsequently negotiated a contract for streaming usage of the new version of the track.

At EW's Dawson's Creek reunion back in 2018, showrunner Kevin Williamson challenged the cast to see if any of them could remember the lyrics to the opening theme. Busy Philipps, who played Audrey Liddell on the show, was the most successful, singing most of the chorus before also sharing some trivia about the track.

"Apparently it's about World War II," she told her surprised former cast mates. "He came home from war and there was a baby waiting for him — that's, like, essentially the lyrics. You can look it up. It's about a soldier returning from war." Added Meredith Monroe who played Andie McPhee, "When you hear it on the radio, do you guys all get warm fuzzies? Because I do!"

All six seasons of Dawson's Creek are available to stream on Netflix now — with the original theme song.

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