After all these years, Shania Twain is still the one. In a new Netflix documentary chronicling her life and career, Shania Twain: Not Just A Girl, the legendary country crossover artist looks back on her journey through the industry—and a host of peers and devotees, from Lionel Richie to Avril Lavigne, reflect on her trailblazing influence.
Raised poor in a small mining town in Ontario, Canada, Twain grew up singing along to Dolly Parton songs on the radio. Parton’s blend of glamour and a working-girl charm provided a blueprint for the young hopeful. Twain recalls thinking: “Well, if [Dolly] came from all the way over there and ended up all the way over there … I guess it’s possible, maybe I have a shot.”
Of course, it takes more than just raw talent to go from performing late-night bar sets as a third-grader to having your own Las Vegas residency and the best-selling album by any female artist, ever. Twain’s potent work ethic kept pushing her forward even after losing both parents when she was just 22, and later after losing her voice temporarily to Lyme disease. Through it all, though, its Twain’s passion for all aspects of her craft—the live shows, the costuming, the lyrics—that makes her music timeless. But enough analysis already—here’s an hour of Twain’s greatest tracks, for anyone who just couldn’t get enough during the documentary. Let’s go, girls!
“Man! I Feel Like A Woman”
What better way to start this journey than by having a little fun This is arguably Twain’s most iconic song, but don’t let the title’s heteronormativity fool you: This track is for girlies of any gender identity who want to luxuriate in self-love. From the kick of the guitar to the gleeful twang in her voice, everything about this song aligns womanhood with fun and fun with Shania, dancing and winking to the camera as a troupe of red unitard-clad men play in the band behind her. Her effortless confidence on camera, her unbridled smiles and whoops between verses, her sharp and flamboyant style—the infectiousness of it all is Twain inherent.
“What Made You Say That”
It’s time for our Canadian girl’s first music video! Twain gushes in her documentary about the creative freedom she felt during the shoot for “What Made You Say That,” calling it a “turning point” in deciding how hands-on she needed to be in her own career. The loose, creative nature of the video, which features Twain in a crop-top and black sunglasses dancing along a pink-hued beach with a shirtless hunk, caught the attention of AC/DC producer Mutt Lang, who would go on to help her produce many of her albums (as well as become her husband for 17 years.) One thing about Twain: she knows how to visually draw a listener in.
“Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under”
Twain admits in the documentary that she didn’t want “Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under” to be the first single off The Woman In Me because she felt it was too “safe,” but it’s impossible not to love this song. The spitfire nature that fuels Twain’s later work first reared its head here—because at the end of the day it’s not “long-legged Louise” or “the redhead down the lane” Rita who faced her anger—it’s the two-timer who manipulated them all.
“Any Man Of Mine”
If “Man! I Feel Like A Woman” is Twain’s most enduring hit, “Any Man Of Mine” is Twain at her most visually indelible as a country icon. It was also her first No. 1 on the country charts. Wearing a denim vest, matching jeans, and a gilded brown belt, Twain sings and dances her heart out along the overgrown fences of a country farm. With her layered brown hair caught by the wind, she moves to a glittery, stadium-ready, country rock beat worthy and sings about wanting a man who will treat her right, no matter what, and who will show her a little fun even when things are tough. If Twain could walk the line in her career, she wanted a man who would do the same in her relationship.
“Love Gets Me Every Time”
“Love Gets Me Every Time” was the first single off Come On Over, Twain’s third and most-loved studio album, the best-selling album ever by a female artist. The track, with its classically Shania hair-flipping live performance music video, introduced the world to Twain’s voice as she wanted it to be heard, freed from the restrictions of her Nashville newbie status. Come on over, indeed, for the infectiously danceable honky-tonk beat, and stay to hear Twain describe falling head over heels for her lover by singing: “I gol’ darn gone and done it.”
“That Don’t Impress Me Much”
Oh, this music video. Twain’s cheeky takedown of self-important, looks-obsessed men proves success is the best revenge, because her looks here are about as fabulous as they get. “It had to have midriff, this video,” Twain reveals in the new documentary—she picked out the leopard print, too. Whether it was the denim pantsuit from “Any Man Of Mine” or a look as Spice Girls as this one, Twain’s off-beat fashion choices were always trendsetting and undeniably hers. Oh, so you’re Brad Pitt Not so impressive to a crossover icon in a floor-length hooded cape. The things this writer would do to be that German Shepherd.
“Honey, I’m Home”
Believe it or not, even after the release of Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5,” fabulous women were still forced to enter the workplace every day to support themselves. Luckily for this next generation of breadwinners, Shania Twain’s “Honey, I’m Home” puts her own cheeky spin on the feminist workplace discontent anthem Parton that ignited. “I broke a nail opening the mail/I cursed out loud ‘cause it hurt like hell/This job’s a pain; it’s so mundane/It sure don’t stimulate my brain,” Twain laments, although she’s back to enjoying the work of her house husband by the chorus. For all the bored breadwinners with broken gel manicures and backaches, Twain was a shining light.
“I’m Gonna Getcha Good!”
A Shania Twain-to-Taylor Swift cultural pipeline is undeniable, and this song was Swift’s “Bad Blood” before anyone had even heard of something called a “girl squad.” With “I’m Gonna Getcha Good!” Twain took her crossover sound to its glam rock limits, putting her own spin on the defiant glamour of one of her favorite songs as a young artist, “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” by Pat Benatar. “I’m Gonna Getcha Good!” was the most expensive music video ever at the time it was made, and it shows in every frame, from Twain’s glittering bodysuit to the endless barrage of motorcycles breaking through glass windows. She got us good, indeed.
“Up!”
The title track from Twain’s 2002 album, and her third to go diamond, “Up” is about as joyful as rock bottom has ever sounded. The track’s refrain—“It only goes up from here”—is perfectly paired to one of Twain’s most raucously country-pop beats, which leaves a listener unsure whether to headbang or high-kick. The track came at a time when Twain was experimenting with what she calls more “epic” production, especially on her live tours. Although the video for “Up” is comparatively pared down, Twain does bless us with a spiky emo hairstyle and a cargo pants look for the ages.
“From This Moment On”
Twain has never needed a man to improve her sound, but Bryan White provides a smooth palette for Twain to show off the harmonies she loved as a child on the overwrought love song “From This Moment On.” Twain initially wrote this ballad for Celine Dion, then chose to hold onto it for herself. Her natural command of the song’s heart-wrenching harmonics proves she made the right choice. There’s just something about a female Canadian pop star.
“Forever And For Always”
As independent a woman as she is, no one does a dramatic love song quite like Twain. In the music video, shots of Twain singing about her adoration for a lover on the beach (because where else can you sing about your one true love) are intercut with footage of a little boy and girl exchanging shells on the beach. Soon, they become a teenage couple, still connected via the shell that’s now on a bracelet around the girl’s wrist. It’s an entire Nicholas Sparks book in one four-minute video, which still leaves ample time to focus on Shania looking like a goddess as she twirls through the waves in a sweater set. “Coastal grandma” aesthetic be damned—give me “coastal Shania Twain music video” any time.
“She’s Not Just A Pretty Face”
As a montage featured in the documentary (or any baseline knowledge of the music industry in the ’90s) indicates, Twain has faced her fair share of sexism, often in the form of thinly veiled comments about the source of her success. Even in early efforts like “What Made You Say That” Twain was never afraid to own her sexuality, but one too many male journalists and industry professionals took that to mean it was theirs to own as well. “She’s Not Just A Pretty Face” is Twain’s rebuke of all of this, a statement that yes, she’s beautiful, but “pretty” doesn’t begin to cover her arsenal. The chorus repeats: “She’s not just a pretty face/She’s got everything it takes.” In the song, which mentions waitresses, astronauts, mothers, fashion designers and “every woman in the world,” the mantra isn’t just for Twain; it’s for anyone who’s ever felt downtrodden, diminished and demeaned.
“You’re Still The One”
“You’re Still The One” is, in many ways, the country girl’s “Fade Into You.” Though Twain and Mazzy Star might not have much in common on the surface, this track captures the same endless adoration and floating romance of one the alt-rock bands most enduring ballads. Even as a young girl, Twain was lauded for the emotion she carried in her powerhouse voice: that’s never more apparent than on “You’re Still The One,” which continues to find its way to weddings, proms, and karaoke bars across the world. The only thing with more longevity than the romance Twain sings about is the song itself.
“Life’s About To Get Good”
Off the 2017 album Now, “Life’s About To Get Good” is one of Twain’s most affectingly hopeful songs. Written after a long hiatus due to a Lyme disease diagnosis that Twain says altered her voice forever, the song’s unsinkable tone and the Twain-style beachside glamour of the video show the singer as older and wiser, but the opposite of worn down. Twain reveals in the documentary that for a time she thought she would never sing again after the diagnosis. To go from that statement to recording and performing “Life’s About To Get Good” is pretty gol’ darn inspiring.
Honorable Mention: Shania Twain’s cover of “Coat Of Many Colors” by Dolly Parton
If you’re anything like this writer, hearing just a snippet in the documentary of Twain absolutely bodying an acoustic cover of a favorite by her childhood idol wasn’t enough. Luckily for us, Twain performed “Coat Of Many Colors” at a 2006 Kennedy Center ceremony honoring Parton. Wearing a flowing, printed pink dress with a full band behind her, Twain imbues the track with all the emotion of a young girl singing herself to sleep. Parton’s proud, smiling face as she watches from the audience says it all.