“Man! I Feel Like A Woman!” by Shania Twain
Inspired by drag performers at a resort Twain was working at in her early days, “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!” speaks of female empowerment and having fun.
The Lyrics of “Man! I Feel Like A Woman!”
Not missing an opportunity to celebrate being a woman, Twain calls her girl squad to join her for a ladies’ night out. Together, they’re going to paint the town red by ditching the boundaries of being a lady and simply “have a good time”. We can deduce that here, Twain is trying to break the stereotype of how a female ought to act in public – gracious and composed. And what she’s trying to say is that women should be able to have fun without holding back (Editor’s Note: as long as no one’s harmed).
Twain, known to be unconventional in many ways, dons an outfit mixed from both genders for the night – a “men’s shirt” and woman’s “short skirt”. As fashion back in the 90s featured looks such as casual, feminine styles and the “sexy schoolgirl”, we can say that Twain’s chosen outfit was one to make headlines. With a headliner look on, Twain and her girl squad sets “out on the town” to have fun and dance the night away.
Did Shania Twain write “Man! I Feel Like A Woman!”?
Twain co-wrote this feel-good track with her then-husband, Robert John “Mutt” Lange. He was her long-time collaborator and the producer of the track.
In a Billboard interview, Twain said that the track pretty much wrote itself after the title was penned.
When did “Man! I Feel Like A Woman!” come out?
The track was released as a single on 9th March, 1999. It is part of Twain’s third album, “Come On Over”. In total, 12 official singles were used in promoting “Come On Over”. This song was the eighth of the 12 singles.
Grammy Award
“Man! I Feel Like a Woman!” was the winner of the 2000 Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance.
Charts and Notable Usage
This song hit #23 on the United States’ Billboard Hot 100. On UK’s official singles charts, it hit #3. In New Zealand, it performed brilliantly and shot straight to number 1.
Country | Position |
Australia | #4 |
Belgium | #7 |
Canada | #2 |
Europe | #10 |
France | #3 |
Ireland | #8 |
Netherlands | #7 |
Scotland | #2 |
United Kingdom | #3 |
Some examples of notable usages of this song include:
- Soundtrack of the Brazilian telenovela, “Laços de Família”. It features the likes of Vera Fischer and Tony Ramos.
- Featured on Britney Spears’ first movie in 2002, “Crossroads”. She starred alongside Zoe Saldana and Taryn Manning.
- Appeared on the American TV comedy sitcom “The Big Bang Theory”, season 3, episode 3.
- Featured on season 10, episode 5 of American reality competition TV series, “RuPaul’s Drag Race”. Twain was a special guest judge in this episode.
- On the American reality singing competition, The Voice Season 13, episode 21, Miley Cyrus and her team performs “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!” live.
- Referenced in Lauren Alaina’s “Ladies in the 90s” track that was released on 5th October, 2018.
Famous Live Performance
During 2022’s Coachella music festival, Twain joined Harry Styles to perform a couple of her songs, including “Man! I Feel Like A Woman!”. The pair also performed her global hit, “You’re Still the One” together.
Reaction from Fans
After Twain’s guest appearance at Coachella, many fans returned to watch her music video of “Man! I Feel Like A Woman!” on YouTube.
A fan shared that after losing his dad in July 2021, this track brings back memories of his parents’ silver wedding anniversary party where his mum was “dancing manically” with her sisters while his dad and uncles were “creasing themselves.” He goes on to say that the love was felt among everybody.
Another fan also shared that the track brings back memories of when she used to listen to it with her mum when she was little and how they’re still close to this day.
Shania’s “Come On Over” Album
The “Come On Over” album was a hugely successful one for the Canadian singer. The album, which dropped on November 4 of 1994, was accompanied by 12 singles. It was made public through American record label Mercury Records. And production of this project was solely handled by South African producer Robert John Lange, who at the time was married to Twain.
The project contains some of Twain’s biggest hits including her signature tune “You’re Still the One”, which is the third single of this album. This song, which was released on January 27 of 1998, opened the doors to international fame for the singer.
“Love Gets Me Every Time” is the first single from this project. And it was released on September 23, a few days prior to the official release of the album. The second single, “Don’t Be Stupid (You Know I Love You)”, dropped on November 11 of 1997.
In addition to “You’re Still the One”, four more singles from the album were issued in 1998. “From This Moment On”, being the fourth single, was released on May 4. The other singles were released as follows:
- “When” (June 1)
- “Honey, I’m Home” (August 19)
- “That Don’t Impress Me Much” (December 7)
A total of three singles were issued in 1999 including “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!”, which is the album’s eight single and the first to be released that year. This song was issued in March. “You’ve Got a Way” and the album’s title track were issued as the ninth and tenth singles in May and September, respectively.
The final two singles from “Come On Over” were released in 2000. They are:
- “Rock This Country!” (January 10)
- “I’m Holdin’ On to Love (To Save My Life)” (July 3)
Project’s Success
This record was a major commercial success, topping the official album charts in Canada and the UK. It also reached the top spot in various other nations including the following:
- Norway
- Australia
- New Zealand
- Denmark
- Belgium
- The Netherlands
In addition to topping the charts in the aforementioned regions, the album also peaked at No.2 on the Billboard 200 in the United States. It ranked inside the top-5 on albums charts in Portugal, Sweden, and France.
By April 7 of 1999, this record had registered over 10 million in sales copies in the US and was certified Diamond by the RIAA.
In 2020, Rolling Stone listed “Come On Over” at No.300 on their compilation of “500 Greatest Albums of All Time”.
In 1999 this album was selected for multiple awards at the Grammys including the “Album of the Year”, which it lost to Lauryn Hill’s debut project titled “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill”.