Like "Mickey's Monkey", "I Gotta Dance to Keep from Crying" features a "live party" feel.
Miracles lead singer Smokey Robinson, as the song's narrator, portrays a young man trying to get over the heartbreak of a recent breakup with his girl: Gather 'round me, swingers and friends Help me forget my hurt within I lost the only girl I've ever loved The only one I'm thinking of And I've gotta dance to keep from crying Cash Box described it as "an infectious rocker that the pro belters deliver in their inimitable, ultra-commercial manner.
"I Gotta Dance to Keep from Crying" has inspired cover versions by the Who and Jimmy James, and was included on the group's albums The Miracles Doin' Mickey's Monkey, I Like It Like That (withdrawn from the U.S.), Greatest Hits from the Beginning, and several other Miracles "greatest hits" albums and CD anthologies.
[3] The song was ranked at number 356 out of the 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made by the American rock critic Dave Marsh, who wrote: "no band ever cut a deeper groove than the Motown group does here".
[4] The British rock journalist Jon Wilde ranked it Number 6 among his top ten favourite songs in 2007, calling it "pure Motown gold and the greatest party-on record there ever was".