Behind the Meaning of Shania Twain’s “That Don’t Impress Me Much”

Shania Twain has no shortage of songs that bolster women in relationships. She’s an empowering force that many women look up to for inspiration–musician or not. One of her most famous songs in that vein is “That Don’t Impress Me Much.”

This track sees Twain scoff at all the things men think are important in impressing women. In the end, she asks the only question that matters, “Have you got the touch?” Uncover the meaning behind this track, below.

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Behind the Meaning of Shania Twain’s “That Don’t Impress Me Much”

I’ve known a few guys who thought they were pretty smart
But you’ve got being right down to an art
You think you’re a genius, you drive me up the wall
You’re a regular original, a know-it-all

Twain opens this song by listing all the ways men have gotten it wrong in the past. You think you’re a genius, you drive me up the wall, she sings. In the subsequent chorus, she shuts down any bragging that might be going on.

That don’t impress me much
You think you’re cool but have you got the touch
Don’t get me wrong, yeah I think you’re alright
But that won’t keep me warm on the long, cold, lonely night
That don’t impress me much

One of the most famous lines in this song name drops Brad Pitt. It’s always been a question as to why Twain chose the actor as a paradigm of a bragging, overly confident man. As it turns out, it wasn’t personal.

“You want to know the truth about this story? I’ve never told this before. I’m going to say it now,” Twain once said. “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 were naked photos of him [in Playgirl magazine, which Pitt later successfully sued for publishing the paparazzi photos]. 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,’” she added. “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.”

Revisit this Twain classic, below.

Okay, so you’re Brad Pitt
That don’t impress me much
So you got the looks but have you got the touch
Don’t get me wrong, yeah I think you’re alright
But that won’t keep me warm in the middle of the night
That don’t impress me much

(Photo by Dave Hogan/Hogan Media/Shutterstock)