“Man! I Feel Like a Woman!” Turns 25: Shania Twain on Inspiration and Production of Iconic Song

Shania Twain‘s seminal 1999 album, Come On Over, turned 25 this year, marking an important anniversary for a crucial song—”Man! I Feel Like a Woman!” Twain recently gave some insight into the background of the song with Vevo Footnotes, discussing how the song was formed and what it always stood for.

“If there’s any song that’s ever affected culture, that I have written, it’s ‘Man! I Feel Like a Woman!’” she began in the video. “I can’t take credit for knowing that in the moment of writing it!”

She continued, diving into the origins of the iconic title. “I worked with producer Mutt Lange on the song,” she said. “He had this guitar riff he had been playing all morning. Finally he stopped the riff and I said… ‘Man, I feel like a woman!’ When that statement came out of my mouth, it was so obvious that the song was going to be about liberation, independence, and the human spirit.

“I was standing up for myself through the song,” Twain said. “I wasn’t being apologetic for all the things I had been criticized for in my life—’you can’t do that, you can’t wear that, that’s too tight, that’s too short’—This was my song that I really said, you know what, I love being a woman! I’m feeling comfortable in my own skin! That’s awesome!”

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Shania Twain Talks Inspiration, Production, and Lasting Impact of “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!”

The song was an immediate anthem, according to Shania Twain. It brings out the strong independent woman who don’t need no man in everyone who hears it, whether it comes on at the bar and incites a spontaneous sing-along, or you’re dancing around your room practicing for karaoke. The sentiment is universally felt and loved.

“It felt anthemic right off the bat,” Twain continued, then discussed the inspiration for the song’s production and backing track. “We were picturing a stadium setting with crowds roaring, so we built the production around that feeling. We layered lots of backing vocals to give that crowd roaring feeling. Mutt and I did all the backing vocals.”

According to Twain, this song marked her shift away from country music as she started to explore other genres. “I wanted to go beyond country music,” she said, “and this song was pushing my genre boundaries, musically it was not limited to one genre. It’s rock, it’s pop, it’s country.”

For the inspiration behind the iconic music video, Shania Twain turned to Robert Palmer’s “Addicted to Love,” paying homage with costumes and aesthetics. “The styling in Robert Palmer’s video was so iconic and strong,” said Twain. “We wanted to take that idea and turn it on its head. We wanted to make something unexpected and the role reversal was the vision.”

Featured Image via YouTube