The Dance // Garth Brooks

And now I'm glad I didn't know
The way it all would end the way it all would go
Our lives are better left to chance
I could have missed the pain
But I'd have had to miss the dance

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The Dance written by Tony Arata, performed by Garth Brooks, 1990

A song with a double meaning, both as a love song and a song for a person that has died for something they believed in, The Dance is one of the most moving and woeful yet inspiring songs I have ever listened to. Here, Tony Arata performs his song live. But below is the version Garth Brooks made famous.



I absolutely love this song. I can listen to it a thousands times a day for years, and still feel the same emotion and power of the lyrics.

Wichita Lineman / Glen Campbell

And I Need You More Than Want You
And I Want You For All Time
And The Wichita Lineman Is Still On The Line

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Wichita Lineman, written by Jimmy Webb, recorded by Glen Campbell in 1968.

A lonely telephone company worker, or 'lineman,' feels the pain of his long days away and yearns for his absent lover to return. Phrases such as "singin' in the wire" and "hear you through the whine" reference the interference and whine heard during land-line telephone conversations. This elicits an idea of why the lineman's lover is gone, as there might have been a communication problem between the two lovers and the "whine" of their differences got the best of them. The organ accompaniment is what really makes this song beautiful, in my opinion.
On my iPod's "Top 100 Most Played Songs" smart playlist, I've apparently listen to this song almost twice as many times as the song in second place, The Dance by Garth Brooks. How this is possible, I may never know.