{"id":73197,"date":"2020-05-23T19:58:36","date_gmt":"2020-05-23T17:58:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/whisnews21.com\/?p=73197"},"modified":"2020-07-30T01:43:34","modified_gmt":"2020-07-30T01:43:34","slug":"20-years-later-lee-ann-womacks-i-hope-you-dance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whisnews21.com\/index.php\/2020\/05\/23\/20-years-later-lee-ann-womacks-i-hope-you-dance\/","title":{"rendered":"20 Years Later: Lee Ann Womack\u2019s I Hope You Dance"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"20 Years Later: Lee Ann Womack\u2019s I Hope You Dance<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Can you believe it’s been 20 years since “I Hope You Dance” was released?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
.<\/h6>\n

\"\"Lee Ann Womack boldly announced herself in 1997 with a self-titled debut album that incited plenty of industry buzz and pointed to a promising career. Released when Womack was in the neighborhood of 30, the album showcased Womack\u2019s rich, traditional country voice, which could wrap tightly around aching ballads like \u201cNever Again, Again\u201d and \u201cThe Fool,\u201d one of the finest singles to emerge from the late 1990s. The promise continued with her 1998 follow-up record\u00a0Some Things I Know<\/em>, featuring the hit singles \u201cA Little Past Little Rock\u201d and \u201cI\u2019ll Think of a Reason Later,\u201d a highly amusing number that Womack delivered with a delightful air of humor. Both songs peaked at No. 2, indicating that Womack was clearly on her way. On the heels of those first two albums, Womack scored 1998 CMA award nominations for Female Vocalist of the Year and the Horizon Award (now called New Artist of the Year).<\/p>\n

With the dissolution of Decca Records, for which Womack had previously recorded, she was moved over to the MCA Nashville label roster in 1998. Her first album for MCA, and third career overall,\u00a0I Hope You Dance<\/em>, proved the transitional record that would launch her into the country stratosphere.\u00a0I Hope You Dance<\/em>, featuring the crossover mega-hit title tune, was released May 23, 2000, to critical praise literally across the board. Now, 20 years later, the album holds its own as a sterling example of modern country done right, with a sparkling collection of story-songs that proffered powerful and deep-rooted messages.<\/p>\n

QUALITY CUTS<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"Songs didn\u2019t come much more potent than the title track, an inspirational piece of life-affirming advice written by Tia Sillers and Mark D. Sanders.\u00a0Womack has often asserted that she thought of her daughters when she recorded it, noting certain lines that indicated what she wanted for their futures, for example,\u00a0I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean<\/em>\/Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens<\/em>. With solid vocal support from Sons of the Desert, Womack drove it all home in uplifting fashion. Raved\u00a0Billboard,<\/em>\u00a0\u201cHer sweet, vulnerable voice perfectly captures the tender sentiment of the lyrics.\u201d<\/p>\n

The \u201cI Hope You Dance\u201d single achieved every conceivable honor and accolade available. It hit No. 1 in July of 2000 and had crossover success on the pop charts, ringing in at No. 14. Later in the year, the tune danced away with CMA awards for both Single and Song of the Year. \u201cI Hope You Dance\u201d also copped a Grammy for Best Country Song. Womack later commented that the single propelled her career to a new level, taking her places that she never dreamed possible.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
[youtube https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=RV-Z1YwaOiw?feature=oembed]<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Produced by Mark Wright and Frank Liddell, the\u00a0I Hope You Dance<\/em> album enlisted some of the most gifted writers in and outside of the genre\u2019s mainstream. Americana favorites Buddy and Julie Miller teamed for the fourth single from the album, \u201cDoes My Ring Burn Your Finger,\u201d which deserved a better fate than its No. 23 peak. \u201cWhy They Call It Falling,\u201d which ends with a memorable (if not exactly happy) payoff, came from the pens of Don Schlitz and Roxie Dean.<\/p>\n

\"\"For the second single from the album, the team selected a cover of Rodney Crowell\u2019s \u201cAshes by Now,\u201d given an appropriately fiery rendering by Womack. Her version clocked in just inside the Top 5.<\/p>\n

Like most standout albums, all the tracks on I Hope You Dance<\/em>\u00a0were solid, quality tunes. You won\u2019t find any fillers here. Best among the deep cuts, \u201cI Know Why the River Runs,\u201d written by Julie Miller, featured a Womack performance that would have done Dolly Parton proud. The tune contained wonderful, poetic lines, like,\u00a0There\u2019s a silence that I don\u2019t want to hear<\/em>\/There\u2019s a hole now where my heart used to be<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Bobbie Cryner, a fine writer and one-time solo artist, contributed \u201cStronger Than I Am,\u201d surely one of the more unique takes on separation and divorce. For a somewhat ironic touch, Womack and her ex-husband Jason Sellers shared a co-write with Wynn Varble on the track, \u201cI Feel Like I\u2019m Forgetting Something.\u201d The album ended nicely with a rendition of Don Williams\u2019 chart-topping hit, \u201cLord, I Hope This Day Is Good.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\n
[youtube https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=gg2xswR8fPI?feature=oembed]<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

THE LEGACY<\/strong><\/p>\n

I Hope You Dance<\/em>\u00a0was Womack\u2019s best overall album to date, sending a career that was already soaring to even greater heights. It helped Womack secure her second CMA Female Vocalist of the Year award nomination, while the record itself was nominated for Album of the Year, eventually losing to\u00a0Fly<\/em>\u00a0by the\u00a0Dixie Chicks. By 2001, Womack was riding the crest of a career momentum and took home the 2001 CMA award for Female Vocalist of the Year.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

20 Years Later: Lee Ann Womack\u2019s I Hope You Dance Can you believe it’s been 20 years since “I Hope You Dance” was released? . Lee Ann Womack boldly announced herself in 1997 with a self-titled debut album that incited plenty of industry buzz and pointed to a promising career. Released when Womack was in the neighborhood of 30, the album showcased Womack\u2019s rich, traditional country voice, which could wrap tightly around aching ballads like \u201cNever Again, Again\u201d and \u201cThe Fool,\u201d one of the finest singles to emerge from the<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":73199,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whisnews21.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73197"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whisnews21.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whisnews21.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whisnews21.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whisnews21.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73197"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/whisnews21.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73197\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":73467,"href":"https:\/\/whisnews21.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73197\/revisions\/73467"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whisnews21.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whisnews21.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whisnews21.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whisnews21.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}