Shania Twain is opening the spigot of her personal and creative generosity to faithful fans. The multi talented, multimillion platinum-selling singer-songwriter proved that she still had all her performance chops when she swayed, jumped, and moved down the ‘Today’ show runway last month. Less than two weeks ago, she let fans savor the full track listing for “Now,” her first full album of all-new music that is set for release on September 29. The country music icon has been more than candid and revealing that this collection of songs will have deeper range, and at times, a more melancholy tone than any past Shania Twain record.
As an artist and as a woman, Shania Twain has been on an excruciating journey to emotional and physical healing that she never expected to take. Nonetheless, she regained exuberance for life and found love again. That full cycle of emotions rings through the three album tracks heard thus far from the album. The just-released lyric video for “Poor Me,” explores the sharp pain against a sonic canvas that couldn’t sound any more current. After the tears, though, true to the spirit of Shania Twain music, comes dusting off, having a cold one, and moving on.
Time for tears
A tiny guitar-tinged tidbit of “Poor Me” was heard when Shania revealed the full track listing, and immediately, music press and some of the public started making comparisons to The Chainsmokers.
There are heart and depth to the questioning verse of the song that reaches deeper than the duo’s appetite for one-word titles and taking over the charts.
At 51, Shania Twain has “been there” through life and love. She's become a mother, and she certainly stood by her man, by every definition, until he made different choices.
The strident songwriter has explored the inner workings of heart ache before. Her debut album, “The Woman in Me,” revealed the artist’s view of seeing the darker, desperate side of love in the title track, “Home Ain’t Where His Heart Is Anymore,” and “Raining on Our Love.” With “Poor Me,” the vantage point changes from looking in through a window to looking straight from the woman's broken heart.
In her own words, Shania Twain declares, “it's me feeling sorry for myself.” Everyone has to allow that for a short while before they can muster the new strength.
Shades of gray and that unforgettable gaze
Completely divergent from “Life's About to Get Good,” “Poor Me” doesn't even try to pretend that better days are ahead. The video features a pencil-drawn portrait of Shania on a gray background, her penetrating eyes and flowing hair in full view, as the lyrics write themselves across the frames. “Tried to face it/So far down inside” relates one of the verses before coming to accountability with “I just can't shake it/My stupid pride.”
Any love worth having must be mourned when it is lost, and Shania Twain embraces that grief here, but also, flips the words of the title to a synonym, making a good remedy for getting past the pain at the moment, as she requests “Pour me another.”
Any listener who's human and ever been hurt will drink to, and with, Shania on this one. Rest assured, she won't be down for long.
