Synopsis

TLC appear as shimmering water spirits while two cautionary stories unfold. A teenager ignores his mother's pleas and enters the drug trade, only to be killed during a street deal. In the second story, a woman has unprotected sex with her partner, who later develops visible symptoms of HIV/AIDS. The narrative scenes are intercut with the trio performing above an ocean, beside a waterfall, and in other surreal water settings, turning the song's warning into a striking visual fable.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video was filmed at Universal Studios Hollywood on June 8 and 9, 1995.

• Its reported production budget was about $1 million, unusually large for a music video at the time. The money helped TLC combine narrative drama, elaborate sets, water imagery, and computer-generated effects.

• The liquefied, water-like appearance of the group was created with effects techniques also associated with Peter Gabriel's "Steam" video and the film "The Lawnmower Man."

• The video's two storylines mirror the song's first two verses: one addresses violence connected to the drug trade, while the other warns about HIV/AIDS and unsafe sex.

• The visual concept developed from several ideas within TLC. T-Boz imagined the group as water spirits, Left Eye pictured them traveling through space, and Chilli helped shape the aquatic imagery.

• At the 1995 MTV Video Music Awards, "Waterfalls" won Video of the Year, Best Group Video, Best R&B Video, and Viewer's Choice. TLC became the first Black act to win Video of the Year.

• The song and video helped establish TLC as a group willing to bring serious social issues into mainstream pop without abandoning a polished, highly imaginative visual style.