"That's as Close as I'll Get to Loving You" is the title of a song recorded by American country music

Country music

Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

 artist Aaron Tippin

Aaron Tippin

Aaron Dupree Tippin is an American country music artist and record producer. Initially a songwriter for Acuff-Rose Music, he gained a recording contract with RCA Records in 1990...

. It was released in August 1995 as the lead-off single to his 1995 album Tool Box

Tool Box

Tool Box is the fifth studio album from American country music artist Aaron Tippin. It features the singles "That's as Close as I'll Get to Loving You", "Without Your Love", "Everything I Own" and "How's the Radio Know". "That's as Close as I'll Get to Loving You" reached Number One on the...

. It peaked at number one in the United States, and #10 in Canada. Paul Jefferson

Paul Jefferson

Paul Jefferson is an American country music artist. Jefferson has released one studio album on Almo Sounds; he also charted three singles on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart...

, who co-wrote the song, later recorded a rendition as the B-side to his 1996 debut single "Check Please." It was written by Sally Dworsky

Sally Dworsky

Sally Dworsky is an American singer-songwriter. She has been an important voice actress and singer in animated films such as Shrek, The Lion King and The Prince of Egypt in addition to releasing her own albums. She has also performed on A Prairie Home Companion. Her brother is Richard Dworsky...

, Paul Jefferson

Paul Jefferson

Paul Jefferson is an American country music artist. Jefferson has released one studio album on Almo Sounds; he also charted three singles on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart...

, and Jan Leyers

Jan Leyers

Jan Leyers is a singer, songwriter, and television personality. He was a member of the group Soulsister and later became a solo musician and host of various television series.-Music career:...

.

Content

The song deals with unrequited love and a man's angst as he loves someone from a distance.

Critical reception

Deborah Evans Price, of Billboard

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

magazine reviewed the song favorably, calling it an "eloquent and thoughtful expression of unrequited love." She goes on to say that Gibson's "fine production does justice to the lyric, and Tippin's vocal reflects a broader range and more emotional depth than conveyed on previous outings."

Music video

The music video is entirely in black and white, and it was directed by Michael Salomon. The video peaked at #1 on CMT's Top 12 Countdown (now CMT's Top 20 Countdown), in December 1995, about the same time that the song itself was also number one on the Hot Country Songs

Hot Country Songs

Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...

chart in America.

Chart positions

"That's as Close as I'll Get to Loving You" debuted at number 72 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the week of September 2, 1995.

Chart (1995)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks	1
U.S. Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100	1
Canadian RPM Country Tracks	10