The song peaked at number seven on both the US Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart and also received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals at 1993.

During one recording session, Mike Rutherford first created the main riff of the song he called "Heavy A Flat", to which Collins suddenly improvised the basic concept for "I Can't Dance".

It was not until Banks decided to add keyboard sound effects to complement Rutherford's playing that "I Can't Dance" took on a different feeling.

[3] The Daily Vault's Christopher Thelen found that "I Can't Dance" is "a goofy number that features Genesis mocking themselves for being un-hip.

"[5] A reviewer from People Magazine described it as a "melodically fetching, radio-ready track", and "a simple slammer with an arrangement that shows off the group’s remarkable facility for aural atmospherics.

[8] Ted Shaw from The Windsor Star wrote that "I Can't Dance", "with its bluesy melody and metallic effects, is unlike anything the band has ever done, and it's a wonderful pop creation.

"[9] The accompanying music video for "I Can't Dance" (made by frequent collaborators Paul Flattery and Jim Yukich) illustrates the artifice and false glamour of television advertisements.

Here, as usual, Phil Collins sounds most comfortable at the raspy apex of his vocal range, pushing his voice to the breaking point as Tony Banks' synths drift through like mists.

"I Can't Dance" was played live during The Way We Walk,[12] Calling All Stations[13] (with Ray Wilson on vocals), Turn It On Again[14] and The Last Domino?

In 2007, German death metal group Debauchery recorded "I Can't Dance" and released it on their fourth album, Back in Blood.

In 2014, Finnish metal band Sonata Arctica released a cover of "I Can't Dance" as a bonus track on their album Ecliptica: Revisited; 15th Anniversary Edition.

In 2019, Tuff singer Stevie Rachelle released a cover of "I Can't Dance" on his "Best sTuff" solo album on RLS Records.