"Waves" is a song by Dutch recording artist Mr Probz (his real name is Princewell Stehr). It was initially released as a stand-alone digital single on 25 November 2013, becoming a top ten hit in the Netherlands.

The song became an international hit upon being remixed in a more uptempo fashion by German electronic music producer Robin Schulz, with Schulz's remix topping the charts in multiple countries, including Austria, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. "Waves" was sent to US dance radio by Ultra Music on 14 April 2014. The remix was the fourth best-selling song of 2014 in the UK, selling over 800,000 copies.

The music video for the remix of "Waves" was shot in Tulum, Mexico and released on 3 February 2014.

My face above the water
My feet can't touch the ground, touch the ground
And it feels like
I can see the sands on the horizon
Every time you are not around

I'm slowly drifting away -drifting away-
Wave after wave, wave after wave
I'm slowly drifting -drifting away-
And it feels like I'm drowning
Pulling against the stream
Pulling against the...

... drifting away -drifting away-
Wave after wave, wave after wave
I'm slowly drifting

My face above the water
My feet can't touch the ground, touch the ground
And it feels like
I can see the sands on the horizon
Everytime you are not around

I'm slowly drifting away -drifting away-
Wave after wave, wave after wave
I'm slowly drifting -drifting away-
And it feels like I'm drowning
Pulling against the stream
Pulling against the...

I wish I could make it easy
Easy to love me, love me
But still I reach, to find a way
I'm stuck here in between
I'm looking for the right words to say

I'm slowly drifting, drifting away
Wave after wave, wave after wave
I'm slowly drifting -drifting away-
And it feels like I'm drowning
Pulling against the stream
Pulling against the...

ABOVE= Higher than, over.

IT FEELS LIKE...= I feel as if I could see the sands on the horizon.

HORIZON= /hɒraɪzən/ The distant line where sky and ground meet.

YOU ARE NOT AROUND= You are not near me.

DRIFTING AWAY= To be carried along by currents of water (waves in this case). The particle AWAY emphasizes the idea of going away (in this case from the shore), separating. To drift away from somebody is also to slowly lose contact. If two lovers are drifting away, their relationship is cooling down, is dying.

WAVE AFTER WAVE= The expression "X after X" suggests an event that is repeated again and again. For example "I feel tired day after day" means that I am always tired, every day, one day and the next and the next... day after day. So in this case he is being pulled away by the waves (drifting), and every wave pulls him further away, wave after wave he is pulled away.

FEELS LIKE...= Feels as if...

DROWNING= When you are drowning you can't breathe because you are under water, so you are dying.

PULLING AGAINST= If there is a force pushing you away, to pull against it means to resist it, to try to be pushed away.

THE STREAM= The current, a large amount of water moving in one particular direction (in this case, a sea current pulling him away from the shore)

Lyrically, the narrator of the song has lost his orientation because of a dying relationship. He uses the sea as a metaphor to describe his feeling that he is drowning. Mr. Probz attributes the song's success in part to its honesty. He told Digital Spy: "I think everybody could place themselves in those words one way or another. It doesn't matter if it's friendship or a relationship or whatever. I think everybody could. It's just honest. If you keep it simple and honest then people are gonna relate to it. I hope, I don't know. It depends on the person who's listening. For me, I think that's one of the reasons."

The song includes a number of metaphors to illustrate the idea of being overwhelmed by a person's presence (feeling like drowning). The very first line of the song is 'My face above the water/My feet can't touch the ground'. This metaphor implies that the singer is struggling, and has no control (because his feet are not on the ground) but also shows that he is able to survive it because his 'face [is] above the water'. Mr Probz then uses the metaphor of waves to once again show that he is being overwhelmed.

Later the song gives the listener more information about why he is feeling this way: 'I can see the sands on the horizon every time you are not around'. So when she's not around he can see solid ground ahead, the shore, which implies that the feeling of almost drowning comes when she is around; it is her presence what makes him feel so overwhelmed, so confused and vulnerable.

But towards the end of the song we learn that the real cause of this drowning feeling is not really the woman, but his difficulty to relate to her, to express his feelings, to reach to her. All his struggle is because he is trying to connect, but he doesn't know how: 'I wish I could make it easy to love me, but still I reach to find a way'. The singer cites himself as the troublesome cause of problems in his own romantic life.

'I'm looking for the right words to say'; anybody who has been in love understands finding the right words to say becomes an act of desperation when love is not reciprocated.

Waves are a suitable metaphor, because they leave those treading water in a constant upward and downward motion, much like the emotional experience of love. Especially at the beginning (first chorus) the voice of the singer goes up and down, creating the effect of coming and going, like waves, which happens to be in itself a strong illusion for a man being drifted along by the waves. Struggling to hold on to a relationship is no easy battle. That’s what Mr. Probz is trying to comunicate with the reference to 'pulling against the stream'.

Mr Probz uses a lot of repetition of the words 'wave after wave', 'drifting' and 'pulling against the stream' to reinforce the imagery of waves repeatedly hitting against him, even though he is trying to escape. The repetition also gives the listener a sense of helplessness as the song ends with him 'drowning' in the constant 'waves' of emotion, with no way out.

So at the end of the day, this is a song about trying to stabilize a shaky, though still meaningful, romantic relationship.