The Dance lyrics by Garth Brooks, 11 meanings. The Dance explained, official 2025 song lyrics | LyricsMode.com

Garth Brooks – The Dance lyrics

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Garth Brooks – The Dance lyrics
Looking back
On the memory of
The dance we shared
Beneath the stars above
For a moment
All the world was right
How could I have known that you'd ever say goodbye

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 of had to miss the dance

Holding you, I held everything
For a moment wasn't I the king?
But if I'd only known how the king would fall
And who's to say?
You know, I might have changed it all

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 of had to miss the dance

Yes, my life it's better left to chance
I could have missed the pain,
But I'd of had to miss the dance
Explain Request
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Looking back On the memory of The dance we shared Beneath the stars above For a moment All the world was right How could I have known that you'd ever say goodbye 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 of had to miss the dance Holding you, I held everything For a moment wasn't I the king? But if I'd only known how the king would fall And who's to say? You know, I might have changed it all 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 of had to miss the dance Yes, my life it's better left to chance I could have missed the pain, But I'd of had to miss the dance Explain Request ×



Lyrics taken from /lyrics/g/garth_brooks/the_dance.html

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Songwriters: Tony Arata
The Dance lyrics © Ambavi, BMG Rights Management, CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Downtown Music Publishing, O/B/O DistroKid, Songtrust Ave, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
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Corrected by fudgeknuckles

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The Dance meanings Post my meaning

  • l
    + 15
    lyricsmode1 2009-03-14 04:24:25
    I lost my wife to luekemia at the age of 32 in 2000 and this song is still one of the hardest songs ever to listen to. She was everything to me. When I hear this song, I especially enjoy the live version, all I can think is I loved a woman with all my heart for 9 years and I wouldnt give that up for anything. 'The Dance" is the time I got to spend with her, I will deal with the pain. Jh.
    2 replies
  • xxxDarknessxxx
    + 14
    xxxDarknessxxx 2009-08-02 22:51:45
    I had a break-up recently that nearly killed me on the spot. He was my best friend along with my boyfriend, and he just ditched me on the spot. This song makes me think of that, because of the line, "I could've missed the pain, but I'd of had to miss the dance." I wish we were still together, but even with that pain, I wouldn't erase the time in my life, because I was so happy for a short while. I could've never gottne invovled with him, but I'm glad I did, because now I know what it feels like to truly love someone --- and be loved back.
    Add your reply
  • U
    + 11
    Unregistered 2015-12-24 18:00:16
    20 years later this song can bring a tear to my eye because it reminds me of my ex-husband and the father of my kids who left me for another man when he realized he was gay. It's nothing that could have been avoided and I spent years trying to figure out why I didn't see it or how I could have avoided the painful experience. The "The Dance" put so much in perspective for me because life is a learning experience in love. We have to have our heart broken open to be able to understand life and love and our own strength and worth. Now I see all things with the insight this has brought me.
    1 reply
  • U
    + 8
    Unregistered 2017-07-14 19:00:59
    This song pretty much means to me exactly what it says. I met this girl at work, nothing even close to what I would usually be attracted to. We started talking for only a few mins a day for months, then she disappeared, 5 months later, she came back to work.
    I ran into her as I was running to catch a bus to visit my mom in Wisconsin. She asked me if I remember her, I said "of course!". Asked if she was back, she said "yes" and because I was running late I just told her "see you on monday". She looked confused as I ran away.
    On Monday I invited her for lunch. We had lunch on Thursday, right there and then I told her how I felt about her. She immediatly after lunch asked me out for Friday. We did.
    We would have lunch a couple of times a week. In January I asked her out on an official date. She agreed. I surprised her with a cruise dinner in Lake Michigan. In that night we had THE DANCE.
    On that night I knew she would become the love of my life. Six months later last year. It ended with her leaving me. Since that night I've never seen her again and a year later exactly yesterday I bumped into this song for no reason what so ever, I just turned my pc on and there it was. Every word of this song describes our story and how I still feel about her.
    I wouldn't change that moment, that DANCE for all the riches in the world. I would gladly go through all this pain all over again just to have THE DANCE again!
    Love you Kim!
    Add your reply
  • U
    + 8
    Unregistered 2015-11-11 22:50:24
    Time passes and love fades. But when you love someone totally for years even if the relationship ends, you wouldn't trade a minute of that happiness you shared. You never forget the love you shared together. Love is never a mistake. When we have lost love we mourn it like the death of something beautiful. With time our memory softens and we remember love for its sweetness and the richness it gave to our lives. Love equals meaning in life.
    Add your reply
  • U
    + 2
    Unregistered 2016-08-21 22:42:04
    I was married for 18 years. It ended badly and in divorce. I lived alone for 10 years, too afraid, to get serious again. It seemed to be one big fun party after another, always ending with nothing, as usual. Then I met a girl and we lived together for about a year. She would ask me to marry her, but I always had some kind of excuse as to not now, but maybe later. I never told her that because of my previous marriage, I feared ending up the same as before. As time went by, I knew that I loved her. One day, while in my swimming pool, on my day off and some what drunk, my girl came by and I asked her to join me. She said only if I promised to marry her. I told her we would talk about it tomorrow. She joined me in the pool and we made love as always, but not as a married couple.
    Now the tears! Tomorrow never came! She got tired of the empty "tomorrows." She left me, disappeared, from my life!

    Now I know I lost the truest love of my life. Every time I hear "The dance", the tears flow!
    Add your reply
  • U
    + 2
    Unregistered 2016-04-02 00:07:03
    I was in a relationship with the love of my life for 12 yrs and he decided to go to Texas and leave me behind. It was only going to be for a short while so he could follow his dreams but that short while turned into over a year and a half. Well he found someone else and now they are in a relationship. This song brings me to tears because it says the exact way I feel. Even if I would've known he was going to break my heart and shatter my soul I would do it all over again. The pain was worth the Dance. I will always be thrown back to those sweet memories and remember the greatest love of my life.
    Add your reply
  • U
    + 1
    Unregistered 2021-06-16 17:55:33
    It's about two.people in love.....so in love neither felt like this before...it was great...getgingbetter...loving n beautiful everyday.....then she loses him through the most unbearable pain....he was sick ...cancers did not kill him....suicide did n she foundhimn tried to save him....but as she heard this SONG over a hundred times she never listened to the words...n it's so true....ifshecould go back N change meeting him...would she? If she knew how would end? No.....thatd why she had to go thru the pain....or she wouldhavemissed the love. The dance...of the live of her life...tbemost beautiful love.
    Add your reply
  • U
    + 1
    Unregistered 2021-06-07 05:10:17
    Seeing this song performed tonight on the Kennedy Centre awards show brought it all back to me. I loved like I have never loved in my life; felt loved, safe, protected, cherished. I trusted and gave myself totally. We were together 15 years. Then he decided I i was too old, fat and boring, traded me in for a 20 years younger model. His mid life crises became my life changing event. Twenty years and counting.....I can never trust or love that way again; but I cherish the dance I had with the love of my life.
    Add your reply
  • U
    + 1
    Unregistered 2020-04-02 19:44:33
    We were married for 61 years. The last few years were tough because he suffered from dementia and then alzheimers. We struggled through his illness until he finally passed away recently. The first time I heard the song after his death, I didn't realize how it would affect me until I felt the tears running down my cheeks.
    Add your reply
  • U
    + 1
    Unregistered 2018-05-04 16:21:57
    Lyricsmode1 JH
    you might have move on by now as this post is 3 yrs old but I just wanted to say I feel the same way about my husband who I lost 2 yrs ago. He was my best friend for 37 yrs married for 35 and I suddenly lost him to mold in his brain. It was the hardest thing in my life but if I had a chance to dance and hold him again the pain would be worth it. I would have missed the dance not knowing him. Take care
    Add your reply
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    • l
      + 15
      lyricsmode1
      I lost my wife to luekemia at the age of 32 in 2000 and this song is still one of the hardest songs... Read more →
    • xxxDarknessxxx
      + 14
      xxxDarknessxxx
      I had a break-up recently that nearly killed me on the spot. He was my best friend along with my... Read more →
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    Garth Brooks - The Dance (With Lyrics)

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    [Intro][Verse][Pre-Chorus][Chorus][Hook][Bridge][Outro]