"It Only Hurts When I'm Breathing" is a song recorded by Canadian singer

Shania Twain Eilleen Regina "Shania" Twain ( , ; née Edwards; born August 28, 1965) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She has sold over 100 million records, making her the best-selling female artist in country music history and one of the best-s ...

. It was written by Twain and her then-husband

Robert John "Mutt" Lange Robert John "Mutt" Lange (born 11 November 1948) is a South African record producer and songwriter, mainly known for his work in rock music as well as his previous marriage to Canadian singer Shania Twain, for whom he wrote and produced several ...

. It was released on February 9, 2004, as the eighth and final single from her fourth studio album '' Up!''. Disparate to the remainder of ''Up!'', "It Only Hurts when I'm Breathing" is a

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

that Twain labeled to be the sole heartbreak song on the album. Musically, it lies within the

country pop Country pop (also known as pop country or urban cowboy) is a fusion genre of country music and pop music that was developed by members of the country genre out of a desire to reach a larger, mainstream audience. Country pop music blends genres ...

genre while its lyrics speak of misery. The song was not included in any of Twain's tours, but she performed the song for the

Up! Live in Chicago ''Up! Live in Chicago'' is the third live video album by Canadian singer Shania Twain. Directed and produced by Beth McCarthy-Miller, the concert was held and filmed on July 27, 2003 at Hutchinson Field in the south-side of Grant Park in Chicago ...

video special in 2003. The performance was also used as a promotional music video for the single. "It Only Hurts When I'm Breathing" received mixed reviews from music critics. Commercially, the single performed well in Canada, where it peaked at number four. It was also a minor hit in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, peaking at number 71 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and at number 18 on the

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

chart. ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...

'' contestant

Michael Lynche Michael Alexander Lynche (born May 31, 1983) is an American R&B singer and songwriter who was the fourth place finalist on the American Idol (season 9), ninth season of ''American Idol'' and the second finalist on the series ever to receive the ...

performed a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of the single on a Twain-themed episode for the ninth season of the show.

Background

After collaborating on her great successes '' The Woman in Me'' (1995) and ''

Come on Over ''Come On Over'' is the third studio album by Canadian country music singer Shania Twain. It was released on November 4, 1997, by Mercury Records. Produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange, the album became the best-selling country album, the best s ...

'' (1997), Twain and her then-husband

decided to take a musical hiatus. The two relocated to Switzerland, settled down, and had a child, Eja, in August 2001. Twain felt content and was in a very positive state of mind, which inspired ''Up!'' (2002). She and Lange conceptualized the album to be very positive, optimistic, and uplifting; they desired to evade dark subject matters, yet still be profound through optimism. In doing so, they co-wrote every track on ''Up!'', in which few tracks were

ballads A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

, something Twain considered a small ratio compared to the nineteen songs on the album. She explained it was not done deliberately, but influenced by her and Lange's state of mind at the time, adding, "There just didn't seem to be enough room for allads. One of the ballads was "It Only Hurts when I'm Breathing", which Twain deemed necessary to come down in tempo. She said the song was very powerful and, as with each track on ''Up!'', was significant to her. Twain said of the track, "This is the only heartbreak song on the new CD. ..a chance for all of us to catch our breath here." "It Only Hurts when I'm Breathing" was later selected as the eighth and final

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

from ''Up!'', fifth to impact the North American music market. It was released to country radio on February 9, 2004 and to

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

radio on March 22, 2004. A live

CD single A CD single (sometimes abbreviated to CDS) is a music single in the form of a compact disc. The standard in the Red Book for the term ''CD single'' is an 8 cm (3-inch) CD (or Mini CD). It now refers to any single recorded onto a CD of any si ...

and digital download were taken from ''Up! Live in Chicago'', and released on March 9, 2004 with the same cover as the video album.

s and

7" single In music, a single is a type of release, typically a song recording of fewer tracks than an LP record or an album. One can be released for sale to the public in a variety of formats. In most cases, a single is a song that is released separate ...

s were later issued by Mercury Nashville Records on March 30, 2004.

Music video

"It Only Hurts when I'm Breathing" is one of two

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

s shot from Twain's ''

'' special, the other being "

She's Not Just a Pretty Face "She's Not Just a Pretty Face" is a song recorded by Canadian country- pop singer Shania Twain. It was the fourth country single, and sixth overall, from her fourth studio album '' Up!''. The song was written by Twain and her then-husband Robert Jo ...

Composition

"It Only Hurts when I'm Breathing" is a ballad that lies within a fine line of

, most instrumentation are typical of country music, yet it does not sound distinctively country. The country "Green" version is of three minutes and nineteen seconds in length, and the pop "Red" version is of three minutes and twenty seconds in length. Paul Cognata of ''

The Daily Campus ''The Daily Campus'', founded in 1896, is a student-run newspaper at the University of Connecticut that has a circulation of 2,000 on weekdays during school term. ''The Daily Campus'' has the largest circulation of any college paper in Connectic ...

'' stated, "Twain decides to deeply cross the line into pop music in her song, 'It Only Hurts when I'm Breathing.' Since there isn't any type of country-feel in it, the song sounds like a typical pop ballad that could be found on Kiss 95.7." It is set in

common time The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value ...

and has a slow

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...

of 76 beats per minute. Written in the

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

D♭ major D-flat major (or the key of D-flat) is a major scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B and C. Its key signature has five flats. It is enharmonically equivalent to C-sharp major. The D-flat major scale is: : Its ...

, "It Only Hurts when I'm Breathing" follows the

chord progression In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from the common practice ...

G–Am₇–F₉. Twain's vocals span two

octave In music, an octave ( la, octavus: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is the interval between one musical pitch and another with double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been refer ...

s, from A♭₃ to D₅. Its lyrics reflect misery and burden.

Reception

Critical reception

"It Only Hurts When I'm Breathing" received mixed reviews from music critics. Ron Rollins of ''

Dayton Daily News The ''Dayton Daily News'' (''DDN'') is a daily newspaper published in Dayton, Ohio, United States. It is owned by Cox Enterprises, Inc., a privately held global conglomerate headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, with approximately ...

'' believed the song was "catchier" under its pop format from the Red CD of ''Up!''. Eric R. Danton of the ''

Hartford Courant The ''Hartford Courant'' is the largest daily newspaper in the U.S. state of Connecticut, and is considered to be the oldest continuously published newspaper in the United States. A morning newspaper serving most of the state north of New Haven ...

'' felt his heartstrings weakly tugged by "It Only Hurts when I'm Breathing", and added, "The whole endeavor feels like a calculated and spectacularly cynical attempt to make money while expending as little effort as possible." Carol Tannehill of ''

The News-Sentinel ''The News-Sentinel'' was a daily newspaper based in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The afternoon ''News-Sentinel'' was politically independent. The papers suspended publication in November 2020, after the beginning of COVID-19 pandemic. Early history '' ...

'' called the song one of the hottest singles on country and pop radio at the time.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, occ ...

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

noted the song's absence from Twain's ''

Greatest Hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...

'' (2004) album; however, he said it was not greatly missed. In 2004, "It Only Hurts when I'm Breathing" was listed as a "Winning Song" in the country genre by

Broadcast Music Incorporated Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) is a performance rights organization in the United States. It collects blanket license fees from businesses that use music, entitling those businesses to play or sync any songs from BMI's repertoire of over 20.6 milli ...

(BMI). The song was nominated for "Song of the Year" at the 2004

Canadian Country Music Association Awards The Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) was founded in 1976 as the Academy of Country Music Entertainment to organize, promote and develop a Canadian country music industry. The groundwork for the association began on June 3rd, 1973 when a gr ...

, but lost to

Carolyn Dawn Johnson Carolyn Dawn Johnson (born April 30, 1971) is a Canadian country music singer-songwriter. Johnson co-wrote Chely Wright's 1999 single, "Single White Female," which reached number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart in Sep ...

's "Die of a Broken Heart".

Chart performance

"It Only Hurts When I'm Breathing" debuted at number fifty-seven in mid-March 2004, and eventually peaked at number four in mid-April 2004 on the

Canadian Singles Chart The Canadian Singles Chart was a chart compiled by the American-based music sales tracking company, Nielsen SoundScan, which began publication in November 1996. It was published every Wednesday and also published on Thursday by '' Jam!''/Canoe. I ...

. On the week ending May 8, 2004, "It Only Hurts when I'm Breathing" debuted at number seventy-six on the United States' main singles chart, the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. In the succeeding week, the track jumped to its peak position at number seventy-one. It spent a total of seven weeks on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. On the week ending February 21, 2004, "It Only Hurts when I'm Breathing" entered the US

Hot Country Singles & Tracks Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

chart at number fifty. The following week, the track ascended to number forty-three, and, after thirteen weeks on the chart, on the week ending May 15, 2004, it reached its peak at number eighteen, where it remained for three consecutive weeks. In all, the single managed to remain aboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks for twenty weeks. "It Only Hurts when I'm Breathing" also charted on the US

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

chart, where it peaked at number sixteen on the week ending May 29, 2004.

Live performances

Twain first performed the song as part of her setlist for an outdoor concert on July 5, 2003 at

Nowlan Park UPMC Nowlan Park (; ) is the principal Gaelic Athletic Association stadium in Kilkenny, Ireland. Named after James Nowlan (the longest serving President of the GAA), the stadium hosts major hurling matches and is home to the Kilkenny hurling te ...

Kilkenny Kilkenny (). is a city in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region and in the province of Leinster. It is built on both banks of the River Nore. The 2016 census gave the total population of Kilkenny as 26,512. Kilken ...

, Ireland. She then performed it at another concert on July 12, 2003 at

Hyde Park Hyde Park may refer to: Places England * Hyde Park, London, a Royal Park in Central London * Hyde Park, Leeds, an inner-city area of north-west Leeds * Hyde Park, Sheffield, district of Sheffield * Hyde Park, in Hyde, Greater Manchester Austra ...

in London, England. The singer last performed "It Only Hurts when I'm Breathing" on July 27, 2003 at a free outdoor concert held in Grant Park in Chicago, filmed for the ''

'' (2003) concert film. The singer donned a tan, multi-patterned halter top and black, sequined wide leg trousers, and performed sitting on a stool placed at the end of the runaway. The recording of the performance at Grant Park was used as a promotional

for the single. The song was not included on Twain's

Up! Tour The Up! Tour was the second headlining concert tour by Canadian singer-songwriter Shania Twain in support of her fourth studio album '' Up!'' (2002). It began on September 25, 2003, in Hamilton, Ontario and finished on July 10, 2004, in Sunrise, ...

Cover version

Contestant

performed a

of "It Only Hurts when I'm Breathing" on a Twain-themed episode of the ninth season of the singing competition ''

'', aired on April 27, 2010. Lynche performed the

contemporary R&B Contemporary R&B (or simply R&B) is a popular music genre that combines rhythm and blues with elements of pop, soul, funk, hip hop, and electronic music. The genre features a distinctive record production style, drum machine-backed rhythm ...

-oriented rendition of the song sitting on the staircase of the show's stage. His performance was received well by judges

Ellen DeGeneres Ellen Lee DeGeneres ( ; born January 26, 1958) is an American comedian, television host, actress, writer, and producer. She starred in the sitcom ''Ellen'' from 1994 to 1998, which earned her a Primetime Emmy Award for " The Puppy Episode". Sh ...

(who compared Lynche's delivery to that of

Luther Vandross Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr. (April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005) was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Known for his sweet and soulful vocals, Vandross has sold over 40 million records worldwide. He achieved eleven consecutive P ...

Kara DioGuardi Kara Elizabeth DioGuardi (; born December 9, 1970) is an American songwriter, record producer, music publisher, A&R executive, and singer. She writes music primarily in the pop rock genre. DioGuardi has worked with many popular artists; sales o ...

, and

Randy Jackson Randall Darius Jackson (born June 23, 1956) is an American record executive and television presenter, perhaps best known as a judge on ''American Idol'' from 2002 to 2013. Jackson began his career in the 1980s as a session musician playing bas ...

; judge

Simon Cowell Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality, entrepreneur and record executive. He is the creator of ''The X Factor'' and ''Got Talent'' franchises which have been sold around the world. He has judged on t ...

felt Lynche's song selection was poor, deeming it too feminine for him. Sitting in the audience after serving as a guest mentor, Twain herself was moved to tears listening to Lynche's rendition. Eric Ditzian of

MTV News MTV News is the news production division of MTV. The service is available in the US with localized versions on MTV's global network. In February 2016, MTV Networks confirmed it would refresh the MTV News brand in 2016, to compete with the likes ...

desired for the contestant to tap into his R&B and

soul music Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African American community throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It has its roots in African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues. Soul music became po ...

roots further and concluded, "Last night's performance was hardly the stuff of Luther Vandross, as Randy Jackson and Simon Cowell maintained, but it's a comparison that Mike should take to heart." Leslie Grey Steeler of ''

The Palm Beach Post ''The Palm Beach Post'' is an American daily newspaper serving Palm Beach County in South Florida, and parts of the Treasure Coast. On March 18, 2018, in a deal worth US$42.35 million, ''The Palm Beach Post'' and ''The Palm Beach Daily News'' we ...

'' acknowledged Lynche was usually cheesy in his performances, but favored his rendition of "It Only Hurts when I'm Breathing", saying, "I loved it" and calling it "awesome". Mary T. Kelly of

Salon.com ''Salon'' is an American politically progressive/liberal news and opinion website created in 1995. It publishes articles on U.S. politics, culture, and current events. Content and coverage ''Salon'' covers a variety of topics, including re ...

commented, "Big Mike went back to good, ole country basics and sang the song sweet, simple and pure. Tammy Tyree would have been proud." Lynche was placed in the bottom three that week, and later eliminated.

Track listings

*Live CD / Digital Download #"It Only Hurts When I'm Breathing" (Live from ''

'') – 3:42 *CD / 7" single #"It Only Hurts When I'm Breathing" (Green Version) – 3:20 #"It Only Hurts When I'm Breathing" (Red Version) – 3:19

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

"It Only Hurts when I'm Breathing"
music video on

Yahoo! Music Yahoo! Music was a brand under which Yahoo! provided a variety of music services, including Internet radio, music videos, news, artist information, and original programming. Previously, users with Yahoo! accounts could gain access to hundreds of ...

{{authority control 2004 singles Country ballads Shania Twain songs Song recordings produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange Songs written by Robert John "Mutt" Lange Songs written by Shania Twain Mercury Records singles Mercury Nashville singles 2002 songs Songs about heartache 2000s ballads