"Dancin' in Circles" is a song recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

group Love and Theft. Co-written by band member Stephen Barker Liles with

Robert Ellis Orrall Robert Ellis Orrall (born May 4, 1955) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Signed to RCA Records in 1980, Orrall debuted that year with the album "Fixation". His first Top 40 single was "I Couldn't Say No", a duet with Carlene ...

and

Roger Springer Roger Springer (born June 15, 1962, in Caddo, Oklahoma) is an American country music artist. Springer's only single as a solo artist, "The Right One Left," was released in 1992 on MCA Nashville and peaked at No. 69 on the '' Billboard'' H ...

, it was released in December 2009 as the second single from the band's debut album ''

World Wide Open ''World Wide Open'' is the debut studio album by American country music band Love and Theft. It was released on August 25, 2009 (see 2009 in country music) via Carolwood Records, a sister label of Lyric Street Records. The album includes the sin ...

''. The song is the final single to include founding member Brian Bandas, who left the band in January 2011.

Content

"Dancing in Circles" is a mid-tempo song mostly accompanied by

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

, with

fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...

fills. It is written in the Key of

E Major E major (or the key of E) is a major scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has four sharps. Its relative minor is C-sharp minor and its parallel minor is E minor. Its enharmonic equivalent, ...

. Featuring Stephen Barker Liles on lead vocals, the song's narrator wants people to get along, and "share this world together" as sisters and brothers, instead of "dancing in circles" (i.e. fighting and

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

Critical reception

Dan Milliken of Country Universe gave the song a B− rating. He called the song "a Contemporary Christian-styled waltz with a few nice thoughts for humankind." "Dancing in Circles" was also described favorably by Roughstock critic Matt Bjorke, who said that "the song fits in well for both the softer fall/winter vibe at country radio while also featuring a message that is universal and questions why humanity does the things that we do to each other."

Chart performance

"Dancing in Circles" debuted at number 59 on the U.S. ''Billboard''

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

chart dated December 12, 2009, and reached a peak of number 25 in March 2010.

References

{{authority control 2009 singles 2009 songs Love and Theft (duo) songs Songs written by Robert Ellis Orrall Songs written by Roger Springer Lyric Street Records singles