Lee Ann Womack, "I Hope You Dance"

[tico]

A country crossover from earlier in the decade. I still hear this pretty regularly on AC radio. I grew to liking this as time went on. I do enjoy listening to it every time it comes on the radio. There was another version to this with some male backup singers, but I like the original better.

[🅳🅸🆂🅲🅾]

This is an amazing song! Lee Ann's vocals are just stunning.

I heard this for the first time during my Senior retreat in high school. One of the teachers who went along with us on the retreat picked this song to go with the story she shared. She shared a heartbreaking story about how a guy she had dated when she was in high school was killed in a car accident right before prom and she couldn't go and whatnot because she was too distraught and upset.

Whenever I listen to this song, I'm taken back to the retreat.

And it would not hurt to mention that Metro did a fantastic dance mix of this song.

[Libra]

tico said:

There was another version to this with some male backup singers, but I like the original better.

The male singers are the Sons of the Desert. The original song was that which had them in it. The version with the female voice in their place was strictly for AC. Lee Ann didn't like that a version was done that replaced the Sons. I don't either, because I think the song sounds better with the Sons than with the woman.

I first heard this song during the summer of 2000, on a visit with my dad one Sunday. I remember that one of the country countdowns was on, and this was #1. I was very surprised to hear it again one day that December on pop radio. It's a shame that this song would only reach #24 on Pop, though it did reach #14 on the Hot 100 in its second (pop/AC) run there.

I love this song - it's one of my favorites from 2001.

What needs to be stated, however, is the irony behind this lyric in the song:

"When you come close to sellin' out, reconsider"

She struggled for the next few years following this song's crossing-over, even before the Dixie Chicks fiasco. If I'm not mistaken, aside from the follow-up to this song, "Ashes By Now", she didn't hit the Top 10 at Country again until last year's "I May Hate Myself in the Morning."

[BillboardBoy]

I like the Sons of the Desert version better.

[Devil Marlena Nylund]

In one of my classes from last year, the prof was mentioning this song as one she really really loved but didn't know the singer or whatever but she said she liked the song a lot.
And then the very last day of classes, just before we were about to leave, she had this note on the slides about how we should strive to do our best in whatever we do and the last words she had there was "and if you have the choice to sit it out or dance....... I hope you dance"
It was so sad. :( I almost cried in class. LOL!

[Hervard]

I was also quite surprised that charted at AC radio despite how country it sounded. Who knew that it would go on to become the top song of 2001 at that format!

[Positive Tension]

I never cared for this song much. Never saw what was so special about it.

[Mikey]

I love the message in this song--what a wonderfully sweet sentiment, something I hope for my friends and family. This song put Lee Anne Womack on my musical map.

[doodlebug]

I loved it too and used to hear it all the time on the radio. It was one of the last songs to actually go platinum in physical sales but it took 2 years to do it. It was platinum in 2002. I can only think of one that has done that since, in 2003. Definitely a thing of the past to physically sell that many singles.

[melodytn]

LOVE LOVE this song. They played it at my niece's graduation and I sat there bawling like a baby !!

[johnnywest]

One of my favorite country songs.

[Deleted]

I was always a fan of this song but MAN did it get overplayed when it was out.

[.indulgecountry]

I love this song. Its such a classic and has really held up well over time, imho.

LAW has such a great catalog of music though, its a real shame she never had anything come close to the success she had w/ this song; not even so much as another No. 1 country hit.

[johnnywest]

This was the #1 AC song of 2001.

[Agent Yoncé]

Such a beautiful song :'(

[LBTrocks]

So gorgeous both melodically and lyrically.

[Live Your Life]

I always thought this was annoying.

[Deleted]

This is probably one of my favorite songs of all time. The simple yet elegant production slowly building up. The contribution that "Sons Of Desert" contribute. Yet, whenever I listen to this song I can tell by the way Lee Ann Womack sings she wants her kids to dance because she never got a chance to. That part is why I find this song in a way heartbreaking. 

[sabre14]

In the minority but I hate this song. Station-changer.