On 15 July 1990, Garth Brooks began a three-week run at the top of the US country chart with “The Dance”, the second number-one single from his debut album. The song became one of his most enduring recordings and, unlike the commercially larger “Friends in Low Places”, remained Brooks’s favourite to perform live.

Brooks first heard songwriter Tony Arata perform “The Dance” at a Nashville open-mic night before securing his own recording contract, and promised to record it if given the opportunity. After signing to Capitol Nashville, he and producer Allen Reynolds gave the track a fuller arrangement; in 1994, Brooks said he could perform it four or five times a night and predicted it would be his greatest achievement as a song.