Watch Janet Jackson in Her 1993 “That’s The Way Love Goes” music video

Watch the music video for Janet Jackson’s 1993 song, “That’s The Way Love Goes.” Listen, stream, read the lyrics, buy the track produced by Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis & Janet Jackson.

“That’s The Way Love Goes” was the lead single of Janet Jackson’s fifth album (and first for Virgin Records) entitled janet. The single topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for 8 weeks, and both the Billboard R&B and Dance charts for 4 weeks each. Boasting platinum sales in the US, it was no surprise when the song won the Grammy for Best R&B Song the following year.

Produced by Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, the song samples a guitar riff from James Brown’s “Papa Don’t Take No Mess” and a drum break from The Honeydrippers’ “Impeach The President.”. After being presented the track, Jam says she came up with the lyrics and melody on her own, with the producers contributing the intro line “Like a moth to a flame burned by the fire.”

The music video depicted Janet playing the song for her dancers (who include a then unknown Jennifer Lopez. This new sexy image was only revealed in 1990 during the “Love Will Never Do (Without You)” video shoot. For “That’s The Way Love Goes,” a svelte and fully blossomed Janet donning curly brown hair, a bare midriff, and Native American jewelry.

“That’s the Way Love Goes” is one of Jackson’s biggest hits in the United States. It was one of the longest-reigning hits of 1993, topping the Billboard Hot 100 for eight weeks, To date, it is the longest running number-one single of any member of the Jackson family on the Hot 100. It also topped the Hot 100 Airplay for ten weeks, as well as spending multiple weeks at number one on several of Billboard’s other component charts. The song became the first and only single in history to debut at number one on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart. Internationally, it placed at number one in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Hungary, South Africa, Japan and Europe’s Hot 100 chart. It is the seventeenth biggest hit of the 1990s and the biggest selling single by a female artist in South Africa. It has sold over three million copies worldwide. It was certified Platinum by the RIAA.

“That’s the Way Love Goes” received the Grammy Award for Best R&B Song in addition to Billboard Awards, BMI Pop Award for Most Played Song, and American Music Awards. Its accompanying music video received several nominations at the MTV Video Music Awards, including Best Female Video, and also influenced several videos, including releases from Ciara and Prince.

“That’s the Way Love Goes” has been recorded by artists such as Bruno Mars and NSYNC, cited as an influence by Britney Spears and Nelly Furtado, and inspired or been sampled in songs by Alicia Keys, Destiny’s Child and Hikaru Utada. It is considered to be one of Jackson’s signature songs and is included in each of her greatest hits collections: Design of a Decade: 1986–1996 (1995), Number Ones (2009) and Icon: Number Ones (2010).

Janet Jackson – That’s The Way Love Goes (prod. Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis & Janet Jackson)

18 May 1993
1 Song, 4 minutes
℗ 2018 Virgin Records Limited

Watch Video

Lyrics

Like a moth to a flame
Burned by the fire
My love is blind
Can’t you see my desire
That’s the way love goes
Like a moth to a flame burned by the fire (that’s the way)
My love is blind, can’t you see my desire? (That’s the way)
Like a moth to a flame, burned by the fire (that’s the way)
My love is blind, can’t you see my desire?
That’s the way love goes
Like a moth to a flame, burned by the fire
(That’s the way, that’s the way, that’s the way love goes)
That’s the way love goes
My love is blind, can’t you see my desire?
(That’s the way, that’s the way, that’s the way love goes)
Come with me, don’t you worry
I’m gonna make you crazy
I’ll give you the time of your life
I’m gonna take you places
You’ve never been before and
You’ll be so happy that you came
Ooh, I’m gonna take you there, ooh
That’s the way love goes (ooh)
That’s the way love goes
(That’s the way love goes)
That’s the way love goes (desire) (that’s the way)
That’s the way love goes (desire)
(That’s the way, that’s the way love goes)
Don’t mind if I light candles
I like to watch us play and
Baby, I’ve got on what you like
Come closer, baby, closer
Reach out and feel my body
I’m gonna give you all my love (that’s the way love goes)
Ooh, sugar don’t you hurry
You’ve got me here all night
Just close your eyes and hold on tight
(That’s the way, that’s the way)
Ooh, baby, don’t stop, don’t stop
Go deeper, baby, deeper
You feel so good I’m gonna cry
Oh, I’m gonna take you there, ooh
That’s the way love goes
That’s the way love goes
(That’s the way love goes, it goes, it goes)
That’s the way love goes
Ooh, that’s the way love goes
(That’s the way love goes)
That’s the way love goes
Oh, that’s the way love goes
Don’t you know (oh), that’s the way
Like a moth to a flame, burned by the fire (yeah)
My love is blind, can’t you see my desire?
Like a moth to a flame, burned by the fire
My love is blind, can’t you see my desire? (Baby, yeah)
That’s the way, that’s the way (ooh)
That’s the way, that’s the way (that’s the way love goes)
That’s the way, that’s the way, that’s the way love goes
That’s the way love goes
(That’s the way, that’s the way)
(That’s the way, that’s the way) that’s the way love goes, it goes, it goes
(That’s the way, that’s the way)
That’s the way love goes
That’s the way love goes
That’s the way love goes, ooh (that’s the way love goes)
That’s the way love goes (that’s the way love goes)
That’s the way love, that’s the way love, that’s the way love
That’s the way love, that’s the way love, that’s the way love
That’s the way love goes