THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

314-Shania Twain-When.

1998-Number 18 single.

Best Bit-At 0.50. Stand by for some surprises. With sales of over 100 million records Shania Twain is the best selling female Country Music artist of all time. Her Album ‘Come On Over’ which has sold 40 million copies worldwide isn’t just the best selling Country Music Album ever, it is also the best selling Album ever by a Canadian artist, and to top it all off the Album is also the best selling solo studio Album ever by a female artist, that’s why she’s called the ‘Queen of Country Pop.’

Shania Twain was born Eilleen Regina Edwards on August 28th, 1965, in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Her parents divorced when she was two years old, and when her mother married again she legally took her step fathers surname. Twain’s step father was ‘Ojibwe’ who are one of the largest tribal populations among Native American peoples, and in the ‘Ojibwe’ language the word ‘Shania’ roughly translates to ‘she’s on the way.’

The family were poor and in order to earn some money Twain began singing in bars at the age of eight, sometimes working until 1.0.am, she has said,’I hated going in to bars and being with drunks.’ In 1993 Twain sent demo tapes to a few record labels, and was signed by ‘Mercury Nashville Records’, which was when she changed her name to Shania. Although her self titled debut Album was not a commercial success, it was critically praised, and came to the attention of the music producer Robert ‘Mutt’ Lange who offered to produce and write songs with her. After many telephone conversations they finally met in Nashville where they became close, and were married six months later in December 1993.

Robert John Lange was born on November 11th, 1948, in Mufulira, Northern Rhodesia, Africa, he acquired the nickname ‘Mutt’ at an early age. Lange (see also best songs 632 and 479) began as a producer in 1976, with early success coming when in 1978 he wrote and produced the Ipswich Town Football Club’s FA Cup final single ‘Ipswich Get That Goal.’ Lange has written and produced for dozens of artists, with highlights including producing AC/DC’s 1980 Album ‘Back in Black’ which is the second best selling Album worldwide of all time, and co-writing and producing ‘(Everything I Do) I Do It For You’ for Bryan Adams, which holds the record for the longest number of consecutive weeks at Number 1 in the UK, which is 16. Lange and Shania Twain were divorced in 2010, they have one son who was born in 2001.

‘When’ was the fifth single released in the summer of 1998 from Shania Twain’s third studio Album ‘Come On Over’ from 1997, it was never released as a single in America. In total 12 of the 16 tracks were released as singles, with ‘That Don’t Impress Me Much’ and ‘Man I Feel Like A Woman’ both reaching Number 3 in the UK, and ‘That Don’t Impress Me Much’ being the most successful on Billboard when making Number 7.

‘When’ is a song about a break up. The narrator regrets the parting, and in a humorous manner states things that are impossible to happen as having the same chance as her getting back with her lover.

‘I’d love to wake up smiling full of the joys of spring, and hear on CNN that Elvis lives again, and that John’s back with the Beatles and they’re going out on tour.’