FEATURE:
Groovelines
Shania Twain – Man! I Feel Like a Woman!
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ONE of the biggest albums ever…
PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images
Come On Over did receive mixed reviews from music critics upon its release in 1997. At the 41st GRAMMYs in 1999, it was nominated for Album of the Year and Best Country Album. An extraordinary success story, Come on Over achieved sales of over forty million copies worldwide. It was recognised by Guinness World Records as the biggest-selling studio album of all time by a solo female artist. It is testament to its popularity and commercial appeal that twelve singles from the album were released! It seems insane now that any album would get that many single releases! I can’t think of any other album in history where almost the entirety has been put out as singles. Because of that, in 1999, Come on Over was still getting exposure because of single releases. On 3rd March, 1999, the music video one of the standout tracks from the album, Man! I Feel Like a Woman!, came out and was a huge hit. Hitting the top ten in many countries – and topping the charts in some -, I want to come to some articles about the single. I shall come to some reviews and reception around Man! I Feel Like a Woman! I had no idea about the origins and background. How Shania Twain came up with a song that seems to be a little ambiguous. Or at least not too obvious. Written with producer Robert John ‘Mutt’ Lange, critics noted the hooks and merits of the track. This Wikipedia article talks about the history of Man! I Feel Like a Woman! One of Shania Twain’s most popular tracks:
“The title and thus the lyrics of the song were based on Shania Twain's experience while working at Deerhurst Resort in Huntsville, Ontario to provide for her brothers and sisters after their parents died in a car crash. Twain recalls seeing some drag performers working at the resort and credits them as the source of her inspiration. Later in 1993, after being signed to Mercury Nashville and releasing her first album Shania Twain, Twain met Robert John "Mutt" Lange, whom she would collaborate extensively with and marry at the end of the year. In 1994, while composing songs for what would become her second studio album The Woman in Me, Lange played to Twain a riff he had been working on and Twain sang lyrics for what would become "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!". Speaking of the writing of the song, she stated "There was no time to waste on ideas that wouldn't make the album, but something like [the song] was just there. I was inspired right off the bat with that one, for example, by a riff Mutt had going, and the lyrics and phrasing just came out of the blue."
After reaching domestic success in the United States, and selling over 15 million copies with The Woman in Me, Twain was determined to become an international star and decided to do whatever was necessary to achieve her goal. In order to achieve a worldwide success, Twain recorded her third studio album, Come On Over, with the intention of being "international". After completing the album and delivering it to Mercury Records, Lange spent four months remixing 70 percent of the album for its international edition, diluting and removing the twang elements. While writing for the album, Twain and Lange revisited "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" and insisted on having the track on the album. The track was then the final song recorded for Come On Over. The song is the opening track of the U.S. edition of Come On Over, however, the international edition starts with "You're Still the One", since the song has country elements.
Seen as a powerful feminist anthem, it has been dissected and discussed through the years. As it turns twenty-five on 3rd March, I wanted to mark a quarter-century of a huge song from one of the most acclaimed and successful albums of the 1990s. At the end of last year, Biography highlighted how the inspiration for Man! I Feel Like a Woman! has its roots at Toronto’s L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ bars:
“On the surface, Shania Twain’s 1999 radio hit “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!” is the ultimate girl power anthem. With lyrics like “No inhibitions, make no conditions / Get a little outta line / I ain’t gonna act politically correct / I only want to have a good time / The best thing about being a woman is the prerogative to have a little fun,” it’s all about letting loose for a no hold’s bar night on the town.
But the actual inspiration behind the song? Men at Toronto’s LGBTQ bars.
The singer co-wrote the song, featured on her 1997 album, Come On Over, with her producer-turned-ex-husband Robert John “Mutt” Lange. Twain has said the hit was likely inspired by nights out at gay clubs with her friends during her teen years. And it’s no wonder that today, it’s become as popular with drag queens as it has with audiences of every kind.
“I was just going to give up music,” Twain told Country Weekly in 1995. “I thought, my family comes first. I have to take care of them. I didn’t even think of the future.” As fate would have it, taking care of her younger siblings—Carrie-Ann, Darryl, and Mark—came in the form of a performing job at Deerhurst Resort in Huntsville, Ontario. “I’m lucky I got the job at Deerhurst because it was music,” she continued.
Not only did the job keep her on track, but it also introduced her to the world of showmanship. “Deerhurst was the first time I was directed on stage, and it was the first time I had dancers. It educated me,” she told the Canadian publication Macleans in 2015.
“When it was time to put together my show in Vegas, all that dazzle wasn’t foreign to me. I was familiar with the whole feel of a big stage show because of my being there,” she said of the resort. “It was like a mini-Vegas! Or like attending a Vegas performing arts school.”
Some sources report that her exposure to drag performers during her time there also contributed to the influences of “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!”
Twain believes the song brings people together
Twain’s early influences from her Toronto club days and her Vegas-like training likely combined to bring the frivolous fun to “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!,” extending wide appeal to a broad swath of listeners. Rolling Stone even called the music video, in which Twain dresses up in a menswear-inspired look, complete with a top hat, “stereotypically male and indulgently female.” And, like in her early gay club days, the men in the video don perfect eyeliner.
“A lot of straight men sing ‘Man! I Feel Like a Woman!’ just for the sheer entertainment of it,” she said in a 2017 interview with PrideSource. “I think songs like that have been great, maybe, contributors to bringing us together, if not for anything than just for the common denominator of music... and that breaks down barriers.”
In fact, that’s what Twain relies on when she’s performing songs that she’s written like this—appealing to the love of music over anything that could spark controversy. “I like to have a sense of humor about everything, especially things that can have a lot of tension,” she continued. “A song like ‘Man! I Feel Like a Woman!’ just smacks it dead for me. The audience issue is not something I worry about. I’m respectful to my audience, and I appreciate them for relating to my music regardless of their point of view on whatever it is, whether it’s politics or social issues. I’m not here to judge.”
Twain believes “entertainment doesn’t have a gender”
More recently, Twain has said the song is about fully embracing her own femininity. She shied away from being overtly feminine when she was growing up to avoid unwanted male attention. But dancing at Toronto’s LGBTQ bars, while all dressed up with makeup on, was a liberating experience where she could “feel good about being female,” she told The Messenger. “That’s why it’s such a statement—not just ‘I Feel Like a Woman,’ but ‘Man! I Feel Like a Woman!’ and I love it, and I’m enjoying it, and I’m wearing it well.”
No matter her original intention, Twain has become an idol, especially in the drag queen community. The first time she came across a drag performer dressed as herself was at a Las Vegas imposter show.
“It was incredible,” she said. “The country world... might be more conservative, but it’s funny, three of the artists that were in the show were myself, Reba McEntire, and Dolly Parton. I thought that was so wonderful… Any artist that is, on a visual level, very expressive would make a great imposter night subject.”
Ultimately, Twain isn’t worried about her work and her legacy fitting traditional gender norms. “Entertainment doesn’t have a gender. The fashions that ended up stringing together my career—especially the epic, iconic looks—[go] both ways,” she told Macleans. “It can be drag queen-y as easily as it can be a sophisticated woman. We created a seamless, natural place for all of us.”
In fact, she even proudly doles out advice for drag performers who want to mimic her style. As she told PrideSource, the essential ingredients are: “Something leopard print, and I would say a top hat. The boots, for sure!”.
First released as a single in the U.S. on 3rd March, 1999, maybe she was not concerned with taking a song like Man! I Feel Like a Woman! internationally. As Come on Over had been out for over a year, maybe keeping singles in the U.S. was the plan. Feeling there would not be much commercial success and desire from other nations. Selling huge amounts and receiving big critical acclaim, Man! I Feel Like a Woman! was released around the world. This article also goes into the background of an iconic Shania Twain song. We get to learn more about its standout and arresting video:
“The country superstar explained that it was pretty late for her to acknowledge that she was becoming a woman. She added that she grew up as a rowdy girl who was always with the boys playing football and other sports. However, she noticed that she is getting curvier day by day, making her uncomfortable with her body.
Even so, Twain learned to embrace such changes. She began appreciating the fact that she can absolutely have fun being a woman, and that became the central theme of “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!” She decided to write the song to share her own self-empowerment – a symbol of her shift into womanhood.
However, many other people relate to the compelling track that it eventually developed into a girl-power anthem.
In another interview, the country music hit-maker said that the song’s title and lyrics were based on her experiences while working at Deerhurst Resort in Huntsville, Ontario. Twain remembered working with some drag performers at the resort, and she finds it fascinating enough every time they transform themselves into gorgeous women. She also credits them as the source of her inspiration.
Equally Frivolous Music Video
The song is also accompanied by a music video shot in New York City. Twain can be seen standing in front of a group of men dressed in the same way, donning perfect eyeliner. They were meant to imitate the women in Robert Palmer’s music videos for “Simply Irresistible” and “Addicted to Love.” It became Twain’s second most watched video, garnering 240 million views while “From This Moment On” was on top with 250 million views as of this writing.
Indeed, it’s the most iconic among Shania Twain songs. You can listen to “Man! I Feel Like A Woman” by Shania Twain in the video below”.
Crowned the number one karaoke song by Billboard in 2022, Shania Twain shared her reaction on The Jennifer Hudson Show. Feeling it was pretty cool, the track has taken on a life of its own. Still played a lot to this day, I doubt Twain would have realised what a legacy and impact the song would have. And how it would be adored and known so widely twenty-five years later. That is why I wanted to go deep with it for Groovelines. On an album like Come on Over with so many singles, Man! I Feel Like a Woman! ranks alongside the very best. Her most-streamed song on Spotify – with over 539,000,000 streams -, the video has been viewed over 400,000,000 times. It is a colossal success story from an artist who made history with a globe-conquering album. I remember when Man! I Feel Like a Woman! reached the U.K. a little while after its U.S. release in March 1999. I was instantly hooked by it. Even to this day, I feel it sounds fresh and alive. Influencing a whole host of artists, this incredible anthem has stood the test of time. It is an incredible song that so many Shainia Twain fans hold dear. Impossible to resist and not sing along to, I know we will be talking about Man! I Feel Like a Woman! for…
DEACDES longer.