Billy Vaughn was one of the most popular orchestra leaders and pop music ar… Read Full Bio ↴Billy Vaughn was one of the most popular orchestra leaders and pop music arrangers of the '50s and early '60s. In fact, he had more pop hits than any other orchestra leader during the rock & roll era. Vaughn was also the musical director for many of the hitmakers on Dot Records, including Pat Boone, the Fontane Sisters, and Gale Storm. As a pop music arranger, his most distinctive feature was his clean, nonoffensive mainstream adaptations of rock & roll and R&B hits. Vaughn was also a recording artist, and he cut a number of albums of easy listening, instrumental music that were very popular throughout the '60s.

Vaughn began his professional music career in 1952, forming the vocal quartet the Hilltoppers with Don McGuire, Jimmy Sacca, and Seymour Speigelman. From 1952 to 1957, the Hilltoppers had numerous hit singles, beginning with Vaughn's song "Trying." He left the group in 1955 to join Dot Records as a musical director.

Vaughn was responsible for most of Dot's biggest hits of the '50s as he rearranged popular rock & roll and R&B songs for white, mainstream groups. His first success was with the Fontane Sisters, who sang with his orchestra on all their singles, including their 1954 breakthrough hit "Hearts of Stone." However, Dot's biggest success was Pat Boone, who had a series of hits with Vaughn's cleaned-up arrangements of rock & roll songs.

Can't Help Falling In Love
Billy Vaughn and His Orchestra Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Wise man say
only fools rush in.
But I can't help
falling in love with you.

Shall I stay?
Would it be a sin?
If I can't help

falling in love with you.

Like a river flows,
surely to the sea;
darling so it goes,
some things are meant to be.
Take my hand;
take my whole life, too.
For I can't help,
falling in love with you.
Like a river flows,
surely to the sea;
darling so it goes,
some things are meant to be.
Take my hand;
take my whole life, too.
For I can't help,
falling in love with you.

Yes I can't help
falling in love with you.

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Billy Vaughn and His Orchestra's song Can't Help Falling In Love express a deep and uncontainable love for someone, despite society's expectations and warnings about the dangers of rushing into such an emotion. The opening lines, "Wise man say only fools rush in," are a common adage that warns against impulsive decisions, but the singer declares that he cannot help falling in love with the person in question. The subsequent lines ask the listener whether it would be sinful to stay in this love, indicating that there may be external pressures discouraging this connection.

The following lines use the metaphor of a river flowing towards the sea to express that some things, like the love the singer feels, are meant to be. The singer then offers their hand and their "whole life" suggesting a deeply committed love. The final lines repeat that the singer cannot help falling in love with this person.

Overall, this song beautifully expresses a profound and all-consuming love that defies reason and societal expectations.

Line by Line Meaning

Wise man say
A wise person once said

only fools rush in.
that only foolish people rush into love without thinking.

But I can't help
However, I cannot assist

falling in love with you.
myself in falling in love with you.

Shall I stay?
Should I remain?

Would it be a sin?
Would it be considered a sin?

If I can't help
If I am incapable of avoiding

falling in love with you.
falling in love with you.

Like a river flows,
Similar to how a river journeys

surely to the sea;
surely reaching the sea;