"I Just Want to Dance with You" is a song written by John Prine and Roger Cook, and recorded by American country music singer George Strait. It was released in April 1998 as the first single to his album One Step at a Time. The song is his 34th Number One single on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart, and his 42nd Number One single when all major trade charts are counted. Prine recorded it 12 years earlier, for his 1986 album German Afternoons. It had already been a hit for Daniel O'Donnell in 1992, reaching the top 20 in the UK charts, and this allowed the popular Irish singer to achieve one his "career dreams" when he performed the song live on BBC Television's chart show Top of the Pops.

Content

"I Just Want to Dance with You" is a song by George Strait. It's about a man who is attracted to a woman, but he's too shy to ask her to dance. The song describes the man's internal struggle as he tries to work up the courage to ask her to dance. The music starts playing softly, and the girls start dancing. A movie starts right on cue, and the man wants to ask the woman to dance. But he's afraid of rejection, so he just watches her dance.

Critical reception

Billboard magazine reviewed the song favorably, calling it a "tropical flavored li'l ditty, awash in delicate guitar work that is as tantalizing and refreshing as a summer breeze," and although the lyric was rather preschoolish, Strait's crisp co-production with Tony Brown and his appealing vocal performance should help overcome that obstacle.

Chart positions

"I Just Want to Dance with You" debuted at number 38 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the week of April 18, 1998.

Year-end charts

Certifications