Some men just don’t seem to understand what women want. That’s the message of Shania Twain’s hit song “That Don’t Impress Me Much.”
The song, and its official video, poke fun at men who think way too highly of themselves. The Canadian country star gives a confident vocal performance on the track and is very sassily clad in full leopard print in the video.
“So you got the brains, but have you got the touch / Now don’t get me wrong, I think you’re alright / But that won’t keep me warm in the middle of the night / That don’t impress me much,” she sings.
The song breaks men into categories. There is the man who thinks he has the brains; the man who thinks he has the looks; and the man who thinks his possessions will get him the girl. But, as Shania Twain sings, all of that “don’t impress me much.” What’s more important is someone who will be kind.
Brad Pitt Reference Explained
One of the song’s most interesting lyrics references movie star Brad Pitt. In the second verse, she sings “Okay, so you’re Brad Pitt / That don’t impress me much.” It reportedly took Twain two decades to tell the story behind those lyrics.
“You want to know the truth about this story? I’ve never told this before. I’m going to say it now,” said Shania Twain, according to Billboard. “I remember I had a girlfriend visiting me and it was near Christmas and we were baking cookies. I was writing this album and there was a scandal of [Pitt] and Gwyneth [Paltrow] where there was naked photos of him. And this was like all the rage. I just thought ‘I don’t know what all the fuss is about.’ I’m like, well that don’t impress me much, I mean what is all the fuss. We see people naked every day. That’s really what I thought. I wasn’t picking on Brad Pitt. But that was just the association in that moment and things we make fusses about and whatever. Of course, it could have been any gorgeous guy.”
Twain co-wrote “That Don’t Impress Me Much” with then-husband Mutt Lange. It appeared on her widely popular “Come On Over” album from 1997, which was Twain’s third studio album. It has sold more than 40 million copies.
Watch Shania Twain in the “That Don’t Impress Me Much” video below.
Shania Twain Calls Out Cheater with ‘Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under’
Shania Twain challenged another man to do better in her 1995 hit, “Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under.” She released this song while she was still pretty much unknown to country music fans. In fact, it was this tune about dealing with a cheater that helped propel the Canadian singer to stardom.
“Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under,” tells the story of a woman convinced her partner is cheating on her with several other women. The song sounds like an upbeat country track, but the clever lyrics reveal something else. “I know I’m not the only girl you run to,” Shania Twain sings.
By August 1995, “Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under” had sold 500,000 copies. It was Twain’s first gold single. The track received the SOCAN Song of the Year award at the Canadian Country Music Awards that same year. The track also reached No. 11 on the Billboard country music charts.
Watch Shania Twain’s video for “Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under” below.
