God Bless the Child (Shania Twain song)

"God Bless the Child" is a song co-written and recorded by Canadian country music artist Shania Twain. It was released in October 1996 as the eighth and final single from her second studio album The Woman in Me (1995). The album version was solely written by Twain and the single version was co-written by Mutt Lange. The album version is more a poem than a song, completely done a cappella. A country version with a banjo and a pop version not including the banjo were released to airplay.

"God Bless the Child"
Single by Shania Twain
from the album The Woman in Me
B-side
ReleasedOctober 26, 1996
Recorded1994 (album version)
1996 (single version)
Genre
Length3:49
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Robert John "Mutt" Lange
Shania Twain singles chronology
"Home Ain't Where His Heart Is (Anymore)"
(1996)		 "God Bless the Child"
(1996)		 "Love Gets Me Every Time"
(1997)
Music video
"God Bless The Child" on YouTube

"God Bless the Child" was the least successful single from The Woman in Me, failing to crack the top 40 in the US and only peaking at number 7 in Canada. It was included on Twain's Come on Over Tour usually accompanied by a local choir, and on Australian and Asian tour editions of the Come On Over album. All singles sales from the United States were donated to Second Harvest/Kids Cafe, and from Canada to Breakfast for Learning. Twain performed the song live at the 1996 Country Music Association Awards.

Critical reception

Entertainment Weekly gave the song a fairly favorable review, giving it a B grade and saying "while her sentiments are pretty naive, her pipes sound plenty experienced" and that Twain gives "enough passion to make us temporarily forget her pinup looks".[1]

Music video

The music video for "God Bless the Child" was shot in Nashville, Tennessee and directed by Larry Jordan. It was filmed on October 3, 1996, and debuted on October 26, 1996, on Country Music Television. The video features two choirs. One included the Fisk University Jubilee Singers and the second was a local performing arts choirs singing along with Twain in a hangar at the Nashville airport. Two versions of the video were released, one with the banjo included in the audio for country stations, another without for pop and international stations. The "banjo version" video is available on Twain's DVD The Platinum Collection.

"God Bless the Child" is one of Twain's least-viewed videos on YouTube, with just over 3.4 million views as of October 2020.

Chart performance

"God Bless the Child" debuted on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart the week of November 30, 1996 at number 74. The song spent 9 weeks on the chart and climbed to a peak position of number 48 on January 11, 1997, where it remained for one week. "God Bless the Child" became her lowest peaking single on the chart and one of her shortest runs on the chart. It did however, top the Country Singles Sales chart for one week. Despite failure at country radio, "God Bless the Child" became Twain's fourth appearance on the Billboard Hot 100 where it peaked at number 75. It also reached number 50 on the Hot 100 Singles Sales chart.

"God Bless the Child" was a moderate hit in Twain's home country of Canada, peaking at number seven on the RPM Country Tracks chart. Along with "Home Ain't Where His Heart Is (Anymore)", it was the only single from The Woman in Me to not reach the top. The song did, however, reached the top of the now-defunct sales-only Canadian Singles Chart, where it stayed for three weeks.

Track listing

US Single[2]

  1. "God Bless the Child" (New Previously Unreleased Version) – 3:48
  2. "(If You're Not in It for Love) I'm Outta Here!" (Remix) 4:21

Canada Maxi-CD[3]

  1. "God Bless the Child" – 3:49
  2. "(If You're Not In It for Love) I'm Outta Here!" (Remix) – 4:40
  3. "Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?" (Dance Mix) – 4:50
  4. "The Woman in Me (Needs the Man in You)" (Steel Guitarless Mix) – 4:50

US cassette single

  1. "God Bless the Child" – 3:48
  2. "If It Don't Take Two" – 3:40

Official versions
  • Album Version (1:30)
  • Single Mix - Country Version (3:49)
  • Single Mix - Without Banjo (3:49)

Charts

Weekly charts
Weekly chart performance for "God Bless the Child"
Chart (1996–2002) Peak
position
Canada (Nielsen SoundScan)[4] 1
Canada Country Tracks (RPM)[5] 7
US Billboard Hot 100[6] 75
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[7] 48
US Top Country Singles Sales (Billboard)[8]
 1

Year-end charts
2001 year-end chart performance for "God Bless the Child"
Chart (2001) Position
Canada (Nielsen SoundScan)[9] 153
2002 year-end chart performance for "God Bless the Child"
Chart (2002) Position
Canada (Nielsen SoundScan)[10] 149

Decade-end charts
Decade-end chart performance for "God Bless the Child"
Chart (1990s) Position
Canada (Nielsen Soundscan)[11] 11

Notes
  1. "Music Review: "God Bless the Child", by Shania Twain". Entertainment Weekly. January 31, 1997.
  2. "Shania Twain - God Bless The Child / (If You're Not In It For Love) I'm Outta Here! (Remix) (CD) at Discogs". Discogs.com. 1996. Retrieved 2013-05-02.
  3. "Shania Twain - God Bless The Child / (If You're Not In It For Love) I'm Outta Here! (Remix) (CD) at Discogs". Discogs.com. 1996. Retrieved 2013-05-02.
  4. "Shania Twain Chart History (Canadian Digital Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
  5. "Top RPM Country Tracks: Issue 9797." RPM. Library and Archives Canada.
  6. "Shania Twain Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  7. "Shania Twain Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
  8. "Billboard Top Country Singles Sales" (PDF). Billboard. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
  9. "Canada's Top 200 Singles of 2001". Jam!. Archived from the original on July 26, 2002. Retrieved March 28, 2022.
  10. "Canada's Top 200 Singles of 2002 (Part 2)". Jam!. January 14, 2003. Archived from the original on September 6, 2004.
  11. Lwin, Nanda. "Top 100 singles of the 1990s". Jam!. Archived from the original on August 29, 2000. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
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