Shania Twain Album Series - Queen Of Me (Revealing)

[taylor]

In the twilight glow I see her

Blue eyes cryin' in the rain

When we kissed goodbye and parted

I knew we'd never meet again

Love is like a dyin' ember

Only memories remain

Through the ages I'll remember

Blue eyes cryin' in the rain

Some day when we meet up yonder

We'll stroll hand in hand again

In a land that knows no partin'

Blue eyes cryin' in the rain.

13. Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain (with Willie Nelson)

Written by Fred Rose
Length: 3:11


Total: 121
Average: 11
Std. Dev.: 3.98

codyj100 - 6
mamooshka - 6
austin - 7
SHOOTER - 7
castleoblivion26 - 8
tim - 13
bboat11 - 13
someguy - 14
taylor - 15
schnetzka - 16
.indulgecountry - 16

SPOILER: Click to show

{Songs Remaining}
Amneris' Letter
Coat Of Many Colors (with Alison Krauss & Union Station)
Don't!
I Ain't No Quitter
Party For Two (ft. Billy Currington or Mark McGrath)
You Needed Me (with Anne Murray)
Today Is Your Day
Endless Love (Lionel Richie ft. Shania)
You're Still the One (with Paula Fernandes)
Say All You Want For Christmas (with Nick Jonas)
hole in the bottle (Kelsea Ballerini ft. Shania)
Legends Never Die (with Orville Peck)

[tim]

Shania's "Shoes" always makes me think of this classic :kii:

[taylor]

At #13 we see a version of Willie Nelson's "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain," recorded live with Shania and released as part of Nelson's 2003 live album Live & Kickin'. The song was originally recorded by Roy Acuff in 1947 and followed by Hank Williams Sr. in 1951, Nelson's version in 1975 became a major success as his first #1 and the third-biggest country song of 1975, even charting within the Top 25 of the Billboard Hot 100 that year and receiving some modest airplay on Top 40 formats.

[taylor]

Jun 21, 2021 9:35:25 GMT -5 tim said:

Shania's "Shoes" always makes me think of this classic

I just about died watching this. Some of the most hilarious s**t I think I've ever seen!!!! 

[tim]

Jun 21, 2021 9:41:45 GMT -5 taylor said:

I just about died watching this. Some of the most hilarious s**t I think I've ever seen!!!! 

LOL it's a bit old and I wonder if anyone else here even remembers it, but it's comedic gold! I usually end up rewatching it once a year because something will remind me of it and I'll get it stuck in my head

[taylor]

You gave me strength to stand alone again

To face the world out on my own again

You put me high upon a pedestal

So high that I could almost see eternity

You needed me, you needed me

And I can't believe it's you I can't believe it's true

I needed you and you were there

And I'll never leave, why should I leave, I'd be a fool 

'Cause I finally found someone who really cares.

12. You Needed Me (with Anne Murray)

Written by Randy Goodrum
Length: 3:43


Total: 109
Average: 9.91
Std. Dev.: 2.30 (Lowest!)

someguy - 3
codyj100 - 7
mamooshka - 8
bboat11 - 9
tim - 10
schnetzka - 10
SHOOTER - 11
castleoblivion26 - 11
taylor - 13
austin - 13
.indulgecountry - 14

SPOILER: Click to show

{Songs Remaining}
Amneris' Letter
Coat Of Many Colors (with Alison Krauss & Union Station)
Don't!
I Ain't No Quitter
Party For Two (ft. Billy Currington or Mark McGrath)
Today Is Your Day
Endless Love (Lionel Richie ft. Shania)
You're Still the One (with Paula Fernandes)
Say All You Want For Christmas (with Nick Jonas)
hole in the bottle (Kelsea Ballerini ft. Shania)
Legends Never Die (with Orville Peck)

[taylor]

At #12 is the song "You Needed Me," which was originally recorded solo in 1978 by Anne Murray. It wound up revitalizing her declining career, becoming her only Billboard Hot 100 #1 single as well as winning Song of the Year at the ACM Awards and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 21st Grammy Awards, the first such Grammy to be awarded to a Canadian. Murray would later enlist Shania to perform the song with her as part of Murray's 2007 duets album Friends & Legends, which also includes appearances from such artists as Céline Dion, Emmylou Harris, k.d. lang, Carole King, and Martina McBride.

Sorry to someguy once again! This rankdown continues to be a mess for him, as he now loses his #3, with only his #1 and #5 left in his Top 5, before we've even hit the Top 10!

[taylor]

Spill all your emotions on the table

And let me see your heart upon your sleeve

Open up your soul, I want to know exactly what you need

Say all you want for Christmas is me

I know I got this thing upon me

I don't need no more expensive nonessential things

Cause when I kiss your lips it feels like it is everything I need

So tell me all you want for Christmas is me

So I'm gonna love you like, like it's always Christmas Eve

I'm gonna sacrifice a selfish part of me

Cause when we're all alone and I hold you close

Everything I'll need

Say all you want for Christmas is me.

11. Say All You Want For Christmas (with Nick Jonas)

Written by Nick Jonas, Stefan Johnson, Jordan Johnson & Marcus Lomax
Length: 3:22


Total: 107
Average: 9.73
Std. Dev.: 3.69

taylor - 4
tim - 4
austin - 5
bboat11 - 8
.indulgecountry - 10
someguy - 11
codyj100 - 12
schnetzka - 12
SHOOTER - 13
mamooshka - 14
castleoblivion26 - 14

SPOILER: Click to show

{Songs Remaining}
Amneris' Letter
Coat Of Many Colors (with Alison Krauss & Union Station)
Don't!
I Ain't No Quitter
Party For Two (ft. Billy Currington or Mark McGrath)
Today Is Your Day
Endless Love (Lionel Richie ft. Shania)
You're Still the One (with Paula Fernandes)
hole in the bottle (Kelsea Ballerini ft. Shania)
Legends Never Die (with Orville Peck)

[taylor]

Just missing the Top 10 is the second of two Christmas songs in the rankdown. "Say All You Want For Christmas," released in 2017 as part of an Island Records release titled This Is Christmas, which featured various artists signed to that label, fulfilled a dream of Nick Jonas'. He'd always dreamt of getting to record a song with Shania, who he cites as one of his musical influences. The end result is an incredible tune, complete with an ear worm of a chorus, both vocally and instrumentally! I'm glad this Christmas tune was able to climb nearly all the way into the Top 10!!! I consider that a HUGE accomplishment!

[taylor]

And here's the Top 10!

Amneris' Letter
Coat Of Many Colors (with Alison Krauss & Union Station)
Don't!
I Ain't No Quitter
Party For Two (ft. Billy Currington or Mark McGrath)
Today Is Your Day
Endless Love (Lionel Richie ft. Shania)
You're Still the One (with Paula Fernandes)
hole in the bottle (Kelsea Ballerini ft. Shania)
Legends Never Die (with Orville Peck)

Any surprises yet? Cause there damn sure will be soon!!! This Top 10 is gonna be a shocker; so stay tuned for more results later on! 

[someguy]

Wow, this is not off to a good start for me!

[.indulgecountry]

I still don't get the hate for "Shoes"

The rest of these were expected losses and it's off to a good start for me.

[SHOOTER]

Jun 21, 2021 9:35:25 GMT -5 tim said:

Shania's "Shoes" always makes me think of this classic :kii:

This is everything Shania's record wished it could've been. I regret nothing.

[taylor]

If anyone is around, feel free to watch as this tumultuous Top 10 gets started! 

SPOILER: Click to show

{Amneris' Rank}
codyj100
austin
tim
someguy
schnetzka
mamooshka
bboat11
SHOOTER
.indulgecountry
castleoblivion26

[taylor]

He drinks, he smokes

He'll cuss, he swears, he tells bad jokes

And he ropes, and he rides

He lives life fast and he loves to fight

He's a boozer, a loser

He calls me up when he's had too much

He's a schemer, a dreamer well I tell him to change his ways

But he just turns, to me and says

I ain't no quitter

Whoa!

I ain't giving up on him just yet

Cause I'm as stubborn as a girl can get

No he won't quit, but you can bet

I'm sticking to it I ain't

No, I ain't no quitter.

10. I Ain't No Quitter

Written by Shania Twain & Mutt Lange
Length: 3:30


Total: 96
Average: 8.72
Std. Dev.: 5.03 (Highest)

schnetzka - 2
tim - 3
mamooshka - 4
SHOOTER - 5
.indulgecountry - 6
castleoblivion26 - 6
taylor - 12
someguy - 13
austin - 14
bboat11 - 15
codyj100 - 16

SPOILER: Click to show

{Songs Remaining}
Amneris' Letter
Coat Of Many Colors (with Alison Krauss & Union Station)
Don't!
Party For Two (ft. Billy Currington or Mark McGrath)
Today Is Your Day
Endless Love (Lionel Richie ft. Shania)
You're Still the One (with Paula Fernandes)
hole in the bottle (Kelsea Ballerini ft. Shania)
Legends Never Die (with Orville Peck)

[taylor]

Kicking off our Top 10 is the first of the three previously unreleased songs featured on Shania's Greatest Hits record back in 2004. "I Ain't No Quitter" was released to country radio in May 2005, and she and her label both must've forgotten all about its existence, because its performance on radio was quite lackluster, debuting at #55 on the country charts and only sticking around for eight weeks, peaking at #45. It was Shania's lowest chart peak since "God Bless the Child" had only managed to hit #48 in 1997.

So now it's down to "Don't!" and "Party For Two"!!! Who will take the cake between the Greatest Hits songs?!  ;)

[schnetzka]

I love I Ain't No Quitter because it's such an outlier in her discography. I think her Greatest Hits was the perfect album to have it on.

[taylor]

Jun 23, 2021 9:10:12 GMT -5 schnetzka said:

I love I Ain't No Quitter because it's such an outlier in her discography. I think her Greatest Hits was the perfect album to have it on.

I tend to agree; and I forgot to talk a bit more about the song, lol. As you can see, it was quite polarizing amongst the group--it was either in people's Top 6 or bottom 5   I don't actively dislike this song and think it's quite catchy, but it's certainly not one I have ever had the desire to revisit. I also think this (and "Don't!" for that matter) were clear signs of a deteriorating voice due to the Lyme disease that she contracted upon being bitten by a tick in Brazil in 2004. (I mean I think that's how it happened; I read something like this online once when I was a kid lol)

[schnetzka]

Jun 23, 2021 9:15:23 GMT -5 taylor said:

Jun 23, 2021 9:10:12 GMT -5 schnetzka said:

I love I Ain't No Quitter because it's such an outlier in her discography. I think her Greatest Hits was the perfect album to have it on.

I tend to agree; and I forgot to talk a bit more about the song, lol. As you can see, it was quite polarizing amongst the group--it was either in people's Top 6 or bottom 5   I don't actively dislike this song and think it's quite catchy, but it's certainly not one I have ever had the desire to revisit. I also think this (and "Don't!" for that matter) were clear signs of a deteriorating voice due to the Lyme disease that she contracted upon being bitten by a tick in Brazil in 2004. (I mean I think that's how it happened; I read something like this online once when I was a kid lol)

I actually noticed a slight difference to her voice on the Up! album (which was recorded before the tick incident so something doesn't add up lol). But at the time I didn't notice the voice deterioration because I was six when the Greatest Hits came out lol

[taylor]

You're still the one I run to

The one that I belong to

You're still the one I want for life

You're still the one that I love

The only one I dream of

You're still the one I kiss good night

Ain't nothing better

We beat the odds together

I'm glad we didn't listen

Look at what we would be missin'.

9. You're Still the One (with Paula Fernandes)

Written by Shania Twain & Mutt Lange
Length: 3:39


Total: 95
Average: 8.64
Std. Dev.: 4.73 (2nd Highest)

.indulgecountry - 2
taylor - 3
mamooshka - 3
bboat11 - 5
someguy - 7
castleoblivion26 - 9
austin - 10
tim - 12
codyj100 - 14
schnetzka - 15
SHOOTER - 15

SPOILER: Click to show

{Songs Remaining}
Amneris' Letter
Coat Of Many Colors (with Alison Krauss & Union Station)
Don't!
Party For Two (ft. Billy Currington or Mark McGrath)
Today Is Your Day
Endless Love (Lionel Richie ft. Shania)
hole in the bottle (Kelsea Ballerini ft. Shania)
Legends Never Die (with Orville Peck)

[taylor]

We all know the icon that is "You're Still the One"! One of Shania's signature songs, it's her greatest crossover success, peaking at #2 on the Hot 100 and winning the 1999 Grammy Awards for Best Country Song and Best Female Country Vocal Performance. In 2014, Brazilian singer Paula Fernandes was joined by Shania herself in a duet version of the song, released as part of Fernandes' 2014 compilation album Encontros pelo Caminho. It was a commercial success in Fernandes' home country as well, peaking within the Top 20 of the Billboard Brasil Hot 100.

I ADORE this version!!!! The production stays true to the original while also serving up a modern flair to die for, and Paula's voice is just incredible! It's also a nice treat to hear Shania sing harmonies in Paula's language at various points throughout the song--and her own voice is particularly strong in this as well. 

[taylor]

You got what it takes you can win

Today is your day to begin

Don't give up here, don't you quit

The moment is now, this is it

I know that you can then you will

Get to the top of the hill

Part of the fun is the climb

You just gotta make up your mind

That today is your day

And nothing can stand in your way

Today is your day

Everything's going your way.

8. Today Is Your Day

Written by Shania Twain
Length: 3:14


Total: 95
Average: 8.64
Std. Dev.: 4.40

tim - 2
bboat11 - 3
schnetzka - 5
SHOOTER - 6
castleoblivion26 - 7
someguy - 8
codyj100 - 10
taylor - 11
.indulgecountry - 12
austin - 15
mamooshka - 16

SPOILER: Click to show

{Songs Remaining}
Amneris' Letter
Coat Of Many Colors (with Alison Krauss & Union Station)
Don't!
Party For Two (ft. Billy Currington or Mark McGrath)
Endless Love (Lionel Richie ft. Shania)
hole in the bottle (Kelsea Ballerini ft. Shania)
Legends Never Die (with Orville Peck)

[taylor]

"Today Is Your Day" is what wound up being the theme song to the 2011 OWN series Why Not? With Shania Twain, a show that chronicled Shania's life after her divorce from Mutt and her journey to finding her voice again. The divorce had such a profound impact on her that she became depressed enough to lose the desire to live. The divorce was just the final straw, however. The cumulative stress, over years and years, of experiencing domestic violence in her childhood, losing her parents in that car crash (that I talk about in the OP of this album series thread), stress from her music career, and the divorce led her to a pattern of withholding emotions, as she notes in her 2011 memoir From This Moment On (which was written as a distraction from the divorce and her depression). This affected her voice, putting such strain on her vocal cords that she developed dysphonia. Needing some self-inspiration and wanting to be independent as a songwriter again after divorcing Mutt, she went ahead and self-penned this track, which became her first single release in six years.

We won't talk about what the critics said about this song. I'd like to see them go through what she went through; I bet they'd give a different review. 

---

If you haven't seen the series, it's INCREDIBLE! I watched it back when I was like 13 or 14 and found it quite fascinating and at times heartbreaking, but ultimately as inspiring as the show was set out to be:

---

And YES, there was a tie with YSTO!!!  This one happened to have the smaller standard deviation, which wound up being the only available tie-breaker, so I think it's a fair win.

[taylor]

7. Amneris' Letter

Written by Tim Rice
Length: 1:42


Total: 77
Average: 7
Std. Dev.: 2.95 (3rd Lowest)

austin - 2
.indulgecountry - 3
codyj100 - 4
taylor - 5
schnetzka - 7
bboat11 - 7
someguy - 9
SHOOTER - 9
mamooshka - 10
castleoblivion26 - 10
tim - 11

SPOILER: Click to show

{Songs Remaining}
Coat Of Many Colors (with Alison Krauss & Union Station)
Don't!
Party For Two (ft. Billy Currington or Mark McGrath)
Endless Love (Lionel Richie ft. Shania)
hole in the bottle (Kelsea Ballerini ft. Shania)
Legends Never Die (with Orville Peck)

[taylor]

"Amneris' Letter" is such a lovely song! Shania's voice was in top-form here, and this has to be one of her best vocal cuts on record, if not THE best.

[taylor]

Here's the Top 6!!

Coat Of Many Colors (with Alison Krauss & Union Station)
Don't!
Party For Two (ft. Billy Currington or Mark McGrath)
Endless Love (Lionel Richie ft. Shania)
hole in the bottle (Kelsea Ballerini ft. Shania)
Legends Never Die (with Orville Peck)

Which one of these will have to miss out on the Top 5? Feel free to take a guess, and find out tomorrow!

[castleoblivion26]

can "Endless Love" please GTFO. That song is so overrated!

[someguy]

My last place can leave any time now!

[bboat11]

This Rankdown is going pretty well so far!

Glad I nailed the last place with "White Christmas". That song is over-covered for sure, but the biggest thing is that Michael Bublé also has a cheese factor that is becoming harder and harder for me to handle as I get older for some reason.

"Shoes" remains one of the stupidest songs I have ever heard in my life. That being said, I actually liked it a LOT more when listening here than I used to when we first ranked it a few years back....

"Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain" is generally a song that I find to be really boring, but Shania's live cover was actually really pleasant here! I'd even go so far as to say this was my favorite version of this song that I've heard!

"Say All You Want For Christmas" was a catchy jam!!!! I'm thrilled to see it have enough legs to nearly make the top 10!


YESSSSSSS, I am SO glad to see "Quitter" bow out at the beginning of the top 10!!!! The predictions for it to be in the top 5 had me nervous... This song is trash. Easily the weakest vocals of her career. She's basically talking in a hushed tone for this entire song rather than singing.

"You're Still The One" was REALLY hard for me to rank! The original is of course one of Shania's best!! And this cover is really really good! And the list is overall not nearly as strong as any of Shania's albums.... So it found a home in my top 5!

I always thought that I disliked "Today Is Your Day", but I had never paid all that much attention to it, and now I realize that my perception was probably based mostly on other people talking bad about it! For some reason revisiting it here it hit my ear just right!! I'm pleased to see it at least outlast "I Ain't No Quitter"... This one actually has a melody and is not just her talking in a hushed tone to different pitches.

"Amneris' Letter" was another one that was super hard to rank, but I have to agree that it is one of the most beautiful vocals of her career!!! I was transfixed by this song, tbh. I am SO glad to see it do well here, as I was worried it might be a bottom contender due to its brevity.

I'm going to predict "Coat Of Many Colors" to be the last song to miss the top 5, as there is definitely a pretty solid ceiling in place for how well a song can do that only exists in crappy YouTube videos of old concert footage...

[SHOOTER]

Her vocal on Amneris' Letter floored me. One of her finest vocal performances ever.