On this day (April 30) in 1990, Garth Brooks released “The Dance” as the fourth and final single from his self-titled debut album. The song went to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and stayed there for three weeks. The early hit became one of Brooks’ signature songs.
Videos by American Songwriter
Brooks came into the country music world on a hot streak. His first debut single, “Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old)” peaked at No. 8 in 1989. The 1990s saw him release a long list of hit songs, with 18 of them going to No. 1.
“The Dance” wasn’t his first trip to the top of the country chart. It was, however, his first multi-week No. 1. It also kicked off a string of five chart-toppers that included “Friends in Low Places” and “The Thunder Rolls.”
Tony Arata, a friend of Brooks’, wrote “The Dance” when they were both struggling songwriters trying to make it in Nashville. “Garth heard this one and swore if he ever got a record deal, he was going to do it,” Arata wrote about Brooks’ reaction to the song on his website.
Tony Arata Shares His Thoughts on Garth Brooks’ Version of “The Dance”
The version of “The Dance” that Garth Brooks fans around the world know is much different than the version he heard when he fell in love with the song. “He had a vision for it that I never had,” Tony Arata said in an interview. “When he played the album for me, I listened to all 10 cuts and thought to myself, ‘Well, I guess it didn’t make it.’ It was the last cut on the album, and I didn’t recognize my own song,” he recalled. “That proves what a great artist he is, and what a great producer Allen Reynolds is,” he added.
On his website, Arata revealed that a scene in Peggy Sue Got Married inspired the song. It was the scene where “Kathleen Turner discovers she can’t alter one aspect of her past without affecting the rest. No one gets to pick their memories, thankfully,” he wrote.
Featured Image by Paul Harris/Getty Images
Leave a Reply
Only members can comment. Become a member. Already a member? Log in.