He was staying in a hotel room in Paris while Stereophonics were on a promo tour for You Gotta Go There To Come Back and was trying to find a new sound.

Jones knew he had come up with something special, telling Songwriting Magazine, "I text the head of the label V2 at the time and said, 'I think I've got a big song'.

"[1] A month later, while the band were on tour in the United States, he wrote the lyrics in Vermillion, South Dakota and the song's working title was originally named after it.

[7] After its American release on 21 March 2005,[8] the single steadily gained ground on US alternative rock radio, notably on stations such as WFNX, WBCN and KROQ-FM.

[14][15] "Dakota" was included as the opening track on Stereophonics' first greatest hits compilation album Decade in the Sun.

As the video goes on, the band pass various Dakota sights including Mount Rushmore.

AllMusic editor MacKenzie Wilson said the song had "glossy guitar hooks" when reviewing the album.

[4] Alexis Petridis from The Guardian praised the song for replacing their "standard smug lumbering with an urgent synthesizer pulse" and its "breezy, radio-smashing chorus.

"Dakota" made appearances in the video games FIFA Manager 06 and Pro Evolution Soccer 2010.