Paula Cole Details the Surprising Way ‘Dawson’s Creek’ Success Still Impacts Her Life

Paula Cole has revealed that the success of Dawson’s Creek, which used the tune as its theme song, changed her life.

The 58-year-old had a hit in 1997 with “I Don’t Want to Wait,” but its success snowballed once it was used on the teen drama.

Although she was frustrated at the time by the huge success of the show and the song becoming synonymous with it, the financial benefits have been enormous.

“I have my own label,” she said on the Wednesday, September 16, episode of the Teen Beat podcast. “The magic of ‘I Don’t Want to Wait’ being successful allows me to be like Robin Hood and … take my income from ‘I Don’t Want to Wait’ and run my own record label and be independent. And what that does is I don’t have to listen to anybody’s advice about what they want from me.”

Despite the song’s huge success, Cole also insisted she felt it had “surpassed” her, though she now feels gratitude for what happened.

She added, “After getting over my ego about that, I’m very moved. I am very moved, especially at this point in my life. And I went to the set, and I met James [Van Der Beek] and Michelle [Williams] and Katie [Holmes]. I met everybody, and they were dear hearts, especially James. I mean, again, like an angel incarnate, I felt. Why is it that they go early?”

Van Der Beek died of colorectal cancer at the age of 48 on February 11.

Dawson’s Creek ran for six seasons and 128 episodes from 1998 to 2003.