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Garth Brooks’ ‘The Dance’ Is Old Enough To Rent A Car: Why It Still Matters

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Matt K. Lewis Senior Contributor
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If Wikipedia is to be believed, today is the 25th anniversary of the release of “The Dance,” which I would argue was Garth Brooks’ greatest hit and signature song. (Note: Brooks’ eponymous album featuring the tune came out in 1989, but there were so many hits that they parceled them out over the course of a year.)

This bit of trivia only matters if one recalls just how huge a phenomenon Brooks, circa 1990, had become. I suspect people under the age of 30 have very little appreciation for this. As Chuck Klosterman has noted “For ten years, Brooks was twice as popular as U2 and REM combined.” Since then, Klosterman continued, Brooks has “evaporated from the public consciousness” and “already seems half as famous as Brad Paisley.” (Note: Klosterman wrote this about five years ago; yes, I realize Brooks was just on the cover of People, but headline, “Why I Chose Family Over Fame,” sort of underscores the point.)

At least part of the reason Brooks has surprisingly little cachet today, of course, has to do with the fact that he essentially ended his career by making what in retrospect seems like a bizarre (but perhaps it could have been brilliant?) decision: He adopted an alter ego.

Yes, the Chris Gaines persona was weird. But that doesn’t mean we should completely forget his solid contribution to country radio.

And as good as “The Dance” was as a song, I’ve always thought the video was even better. Anyone listening to the music would be forgiven for assuming it’s just a really good love song, whose moral boils down to: It’s better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.

But, in fact, The Dance (or, at least, the video) is an analogy for living life to its fullest.

The decision to include images of fallen heroes, ranging from John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Challenger crew — to actor John Wayne and country star Keith Whitley — only adds another dimension to an already great song.

And, looking back, this video also provides us with a very early glimpse at just how seriously Garth Brooks took Garth Brooks — even back then.

“I never compare myself with folks that are seen in the video,” he tells us. “But if for some reason, God forbid, I should leave this world unexpectedly, I hope they play The Dance for me. Because I mean, that’s it. I could have missed the pain, but I’da had to miss the Dance. And I wouldn’t miss this for the world.”

Matt K. Lewis