The grammaticality of “that don't impress me much”

Question

I'd like to know how the sentence "That don't impress me much" sounds to a native English speaker.

The phrase is the title of a song by Shania Twain, and to my eyes it contains a clear error. It is obviously intended, and I want to know what was the effect that the author wanted to obtain.

Other examples that come to mind:

• “She's got a ticket to ride, but she don't care” — The Beatles
• “My love don't cost a thing” — Jennifer Lopez
• “It don't matter” — Akon
• “She don't care about me” — heard in the Lost series
• “It Don't Mean a Thing” — a jazz album title
• “The Sun Don't Lie” — another album title

Answer 1

The intentional misuse of don't is a form of code switching (or code mixing). The form is extremely characteristic of working-class southeastern Americans ("southerners"), who are also the primary audience for American country music.

What is most interesting about the song is that Shania Twain is Canadian — and that is where the code switching begins. It is a deliberate error made in attempt to establish authenticity and to better connect with her music's intended audience.

Answer 2

The use of don't instead of doesn't is an error in standard English, of the sort you were probably taught. However, this sort of error is characteristic of many non-standard, rustic dialects, and country music of the sort that Shania Twain sings is known for using these dialectical features as part of the conceit of being rural, Western [1], and unpretentious.

[1] As in the American West, i.e. cowboys and Indians.

Answer 3

It's because the song is in non-standard English and don't is used for doesn't in some non-standard varieties of the language. It's important to understand that 'non-standard' doesn't mean 'sub-standard'. It don’t matter is ungrammatical in Standard English, but not in other dialects, such as those in which popular songs might be written.

Some varieties of English use do (and negative don’t) for all persons and numbers as the auxiliary form in the present tense. As Peter Trudgill has pointed out:

Standard English fails to distinguish between the forms of the auxiliary forms of the verb do and its main verb forms. This is true both of present tense forms, where many other dialects distinguish between auxiliary I do, he do and main verb I does, he does or similar, and the past tense, where most other dialects distinguish between auxiliary did and main verb done, as in You done it, did you?

Answer 4

It's just slang, and is pretty universally used (like "ain't").

It also better fits the rhythm of the groove with its single syllable compared to "doesn't" with its two syllables.

Answer 5

She's altering the lyrics to make the lines scan. In such cases, even ungrammatical English is better than grammatical English which doesn't scan.

Rap lyrics are the best example of this, especially those of Eminem and such.

Answer 6

There's something much more going on in this song than grammar. Shania is singing about a guy who thinks he's real suave and all. You're hearing the grammar of "that don't impress me much". But in the spoken portions of the song, Shania is speaking standard English with mostly no discernible accent (to an American or Canadian ear). As a friend of mine used to say, "She's speaking City" and then when she starts singing again, it's not "City" anymore. The result is that she sounds more sincere when she's not being city thus emphasizing her disdain for the fake sophistication of the guy.

Answer 7

Some forms of performed music are expected to use a certain language or type of language. For example, in the 17th century, operas were expected to be in Italian, the language of origin of this type of music — even if the writer was German.

American popular music of the 1940s that was directed to an audience of white Americans used standard English — for example, such standards as "Autumn Leaves" or "Stardust." American popular music of this period that was created by or directed to an African-American audience was derived from the African-American forms jazz music and blues music, and used grammatical forms that were, and are, correct in the dialect used by that audience, African-American English Vernacular (AAEV or "Black English"), but that are not Standard English.

Rock and Roll music grew out of Rhythm and Blues music, which grew out of Blues music. Rock and Roll songs are expected to use some characteristics of AAEV, or else they don't "sound right." Even the Beatles, from Liverpool, write that "She's got a ticket to ride, and she don't care." In Rock and Roll lyrics you can hear many features of AAEV, such as rhyming "know" with "more", pronounced "mo", as in "I know, you don't love me no mo'," or the use of the double negative, as in "I can't get no satisfaction." Bjork, from Iceland, writes "You just ain't receiving." If this sort of thing were not done, the Rock and Roll would sound as if it were being sung by pedantic accountants - it would sound "too white."

Answer 8

It's not grammatically correct in Standard English. However there are some dialects of English where it's perfectly normal and generally accepted. For instance, as a Senegalese American, it's likely Akon uses one of those dialects such as AAVE.

As far as song lyrics are concerned, what's written fits a particular style (and even a particular metre, rhythm or rhyming pattern) and anything goes, anyway.