shaniasupersite.com

'Any Man of Mine': The Story Behind Shania Twain's Playful Warning

Wide Open Country
By Darby Sparkman
May 1, 2021

Shania Twain put men in their place with her hit single "Any Man of Mine." The Canadian country-pop star laid down the law when she released the song in 1995 as the second single off her record The Woman in Me. The song became Twain's first No. 1 on country radio and her second Top 40 on the pop charts.

Twain wrote the song with her then-husband and producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange. Twain credits the gutsy song for a lot of her success.

"'Any Man of Mine' was a risky song to release," Twain told CMT Insider. "At the time, a lot of people were afraid of it. It was way too edgy for what was going on. Everybody was kind of leery about releasing it. And I remember when I went on the radio tour to introduce all this new music, it was so amazing getting a reaction to that song. Some people just loved it. They just fell in love with it right away. And other people it really did scare. I don't know whether they just didn't like it or whether they thought, 'Whoa!'"

Twain says she calls the song her "career song."

" That's the song I think that really, really broke me in a big way, because it was so different," she said.

How could she not with the song earning Best Country Song and Best Female Country Vocal Performance nominations during the 1996 Grammy Awards? The song also won Single of the Year at the Canadian Country Music Awards in 1995.

Twain knew that with every great song, there must be a great music video. She uploaded a video on her Youtube channel called Behind The Video. There, the superstar reminisced on the location of the shoot, working with John and Bo Derek, and how she ended up being the fashion director on the set.

Her department store fashion didn't come without a cost, though. In the video, the star wears a pair of denim jeans, a denim vest, and a white t-shirt that does not cover her midriff. THE AUDACITY! A woman in country music not dressing modestly was nearly unheard of at the time.

CMT's Chet Flippo wrote, "Twain's allure was greatly enhanced by her videos, which truly were revolutionary for the time for country music. She was hectored at the time of the 'Any Man of Mine' video, with its belly button barrage, for ruining country music by exposing her navel. But that's about all she ever really did show, when you look back at her video work. She slyly hinted at the rest. And six months after that video midriff revelation, you couldn't walk down Music Row without encountering seeming hordes of midriff-baring babes with their navels hanging out."

Twain was revolutionary in country and pop music. Her strong personality set her apart from those around her and made her a music and fashion icon. Twain's songwriting brought her these greatest hits: "If You're Not In It For Love," "You're Still The One," "That Don't Impress Me Much," "Man, I Feel Like A Woman," and "Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under."