FEATURE:
Too Good to Be Forgotten: Songs That Are Much More Than a Guilty Pleasure
Shania Twain - That Don't Impress Me Much
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IF you were around in 1997…
you would have heard Shania Twain’s third studio album, Come on Over, a lot! Released on 4th November, it is an album that spawned huge singles and took Twain’s music to new audiences. Before I come to a song from that album that I want to highlight, it is worth speaking about the album. I know there are a lot of people who dislike it and feel that it is overrated. For an artist like Twain who was perhaps more synonymous with Country prior to 1997, some felt that there was too much Pop on Come on Over. That said, the album became the best-selling Country music album ever released…and the best-selling studio album ever released by a female artist in any genre. At sixteen tracks, one might feel there is filler on Come on Over. I don’t think the album is too bloated. Between 1997 and 2000, twelve tracks were released as singles! I criticise artists today who put out four or five singles from an album. It is clear there was enormous commercial potential with Come on Over. So many people will know Don't Be Stupid (You Know I Love You), You’re Still the One and Man! I Feel Like a Woman! I love the album. It was my introduction to Shania Twain. Discovering the album at high school, I heard a lot of the album’s tracks played and shared. With songs written by Shania Twain and Robert John ‘Mutt’ Lange, Twain demonstrates her variation and skill as a songwriter.
I think that Come on Over is one of these albums that should be celebrated and is completely deserving of its success. This is what AllMusic wrote in their review:
“Shania Twain's second record, The Woman in Me, became a blockbuster, appealing as much to a pop audience as it did to the country audience. Part of the reason for its success was how producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange -- best-known for his work with Def Leppard, the Cars, and AC/DC -- steered Twain toward the big choruses and instrumentation that always was a signature of his speciality, AOR radio. Come on Over, the sequel to The Woman in Me, continues that approach, breaking from contemporary country conventions in a number of ways. Not only does the music lean toward rock, but its 16 songs and, as the cover proudly claims, "Hour of Music," break from the country tradition of cheap, short albums of ten songs that last about a half-hour. Furthermore, all 16 songs and Lange-Twain originals and Shania's sleek, sexy photos suggest a New York fashion model, not a honky tonker. And there isn't any honky tonk here, which is just as well, since the fiddles are processed to sound like synthesizers and talk boxes never sound good on down-home, gritty rave-ups. No, Shania sticks to what she does best, which is countrified mainstream pop. Purists will complain that there's little country here, and there really isn't. However, what is here is professionally crafted country-pop -- even the filler (which there is, unfortunately, too much of) sounds good -- which is delivered with conviction, if not style, by Shania, and that is enough to make it a thoroughly successful follow-up to one of the most successful country albums by a female in history”.
Released in December 1998, at the time of its release, I heard many people (those I knew and members of the music press) saying That Don't Impress Me Much was a guilty pleasure. Perhaps less solid and impactful as other songs on Come on Over, I really love the imagery and wit through That Don't Impress Me Much. Wikipedia provides some details about the hit:
“That Don't Impress Me Much" is a song co-written and recorded by Canadian singer Shania Twain. It was released in December 1998 as the sixth country single, and seventh single overall, from her third studio album, Come On Over (1997). It was third to pop and fourth to international markets. The song was written by Robert John "Mutt" Lange and Twain, and was originally released to North American country radio stations in late 1998. It became her third biggest single on the Billboard Hot 100 and remains one of Twain's biggest hits worldwide. "That Don't Impress Me Much" has appeared in all of Twain's tours (Come On Over, Up!, Rock This Country and Now). The country version was performed on the Come on Over Tour and the dance version on the Up! Tour. "That Don't Impress Me Much" was named Foreign Hit of the Year at the 2000 Danish Grammy Awards”.
There is snobbishness and dismissive attitudes regarding That Don't Impress Me Much. The song, I guess, is about wanting an emotional connection with a man. Rather than these superficial guys thinking they are gods; Twain is casting them aside and putting them in their place. My favourite verse is: “I never knew a guy who carried a mirror in his pocket/And a comb up his sleeve—just in case/And all that extra hold gel in your hair oughta lock it/’Cause heaven forbid it should fall outta place”. That Don't Impress Me Much is a song I loved in 1998, as it is really catchy and has a great sense of fun. I can imagine there were a few guys Twain had in mind when she was writing about male arrogance and men with no depth! Perhaps she was after something more substantial; someone who was more about flash and good looks. I have seen That Don't Impress Me Much appear in a few modern lists of guilty pleasure songs. I do not believe any song can be described as such. It is a little galling that the track has been received this way by some. Maybe the lyrics are not as serious and deep as some were expecting. There are plenty of songs on Come on Over that offer something emotional and heartfelt. That Don't Impress Me Much is a fun and energetic song that is much more than a throwaway or something akin to novelty. Go and listen to the song and check out the Come on Over album. So many singles from the album (a dozen) might have seemed excessive. The fact they are fared pretty well showed Come on Over struck a chord with so many people. Everyone will have their favourite singles from the album. To me, the best is That Don't Impress Me Much. Over twenty years since I first heard it, it still makes me…
SMILE and sing along!