Remember When Shania Twain Scored Her First Hit Single in 1995?

In 1993, Shania Twain released “What Made You Say That”, the first single from her eponymous freshman album. Neither that song nor the two that followed had much success at radio. But by her fourth single, “Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?”, Twain hit her stride. “Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?” is the first single from The Woman In Me, Twain’s sophomore album.

The uptempo, catchy song was written by Twain and Robert “Mutt” Lange, her producer, whom she wed in 1993. The feisty song says in part, “I know about Lolita / Your little Spanish flame / I’ve seen you ’round with Rita / The redhead down the lane / Whose bed have your boots been under?“

Twain and Lange wrote all 12 songs on The Woman In Me except for “Leaving Is The Only Way Out”, which Twain wrote by herself. After “Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?”, Twain released six more singles from The Woman In Me. All six became big hits for Twain.

The Story Behind “Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?” by Shania Twain

“Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?” is the first song that Twain released with Lange. Not coincidentally, it is also her first Top 15 single in the United States. Up until Twain, Lange had mostly worked with rock groups and was eager to move into country music.

But Lange doesn’t get all of the credit for the success of “Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?”. Not only does Twain deliver great vocals on the song, but the video also helped propel her to superstardom. After the first idea for the video was canned, Twain’s manager suggested using someone more experienced, namely John Derek, to produce the video.

Twain followed “Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?” with “Any Man Of Mine”, a song that became her first chart-topping single. Twain actually wanted to release “Any Man Of Mine” first, but the idea was initially rejected by her record label.

“Everyone said, ‘No, it’s too bold,’” Twain recalls. “‘It’s too daring. It’s going to be too offensive. The men don’t want to hear a woman telling them how it’s going to be, and the women might feel intimidated by your sense of independence.’ And I’m like, ‘No, this is an all-inclusive, empowering song for everyone.’ I saw it as a positive message, not a negative one.”

Photo by Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images

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