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Manchild (song)

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This article is about the Neneh Cherry song. For the Eels song, see Beautiful Freak.
"Manchild"
Single by Neneh Cherry
from the album Raw Like Sushi
Released8 May 1989 (1989-05-08)[1]
StudioAbbey Road, Blackwing, Eastcote, Hot Nights, Sam Therapy (London, England)
Genre
Length
LabelVirgin
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • The Bubble Bunch
  • Cameron "Booga Bear" McVey
Neneh Cherry singles chronology
"Buffalo Stance"
(1988) 		"Manchild"
(1989) 		"Kisses on the Wind"
(1989)
Music video
"Manchild" on YouTube

"Manchild" is a song by Swedish singer-songwriter Neneh Cherry, released as the second single from her debut album, Raw Like Sushi. The single was a top-10 success in the United Kingdom, New Zealand and several European countries. "Manchild" did not chart in the United States or Canada. It was the first song Neneh sat down and wrote. She composed the song on a Casio keyboard (the same one she uses to this day), using an auto-chord setting and ended up with 7 chords in the verse alone. Neneh's stepfather Don Cherry commented on this praisingly, comparing it to a jazz song structure. Nellee Hooper did the beat for the song and wrote the rap with Robert Del Naja. Neneh then gave it to Cameron McVey, who helped to shape the song with the parts and "made it make sense".[2]

The song's lyrics are "directed at a full-grown man who has a little more growing up to do".[3] Neneh expressed the significance of the song for herself, stating it's where she found her sound: "I think "Manchild" was the song where I kind of found my style. I think that song, the style of the song, the spirit and the feeling of the song has reappeared; it always reappears along the way in other songs that I've written; therefore it became the most significant song that I ever wrote, in a way".[2]

Reception

Angus Taylor for BBC noted in his review of Raw Like Sushi, that "the offbeat, ambient ballad Manchild showcases Cherry's maternal side".[4] The Los Angeles Times wrote about the song and its music video, "Nothing less than one of the most visually arresting video clips ever produced, illustrating one of 1989's truly great singles, an accusatory yet compassionate balladic broadside."[3] Music & Media described "Manchild" as "slower and more melodic" than "Buffalo Stance". They added it as "a strong and highly commercial follow-up with a warm production."[5] The music video was nominated for "Best Video" at the 1990 Brit Awards. Lesley Chow from The Quietus wrote,

The title character is a guy with a run-down car, a cheating girlfriend and no willpower, so it's not surprising that we get a hypnotic sense of draining away. The strings have a repetitive, droning sound; they move gradually up or down a tone, so that the entire song seems to be slipping down a slope. A program of beats forms a continually revolving and reversing pattern, and the track feels as if it's shuffling or rotating by degrees (the video ingeniously matched this idea of constant slippage by showing Cherry surrounded by tilting levels of water). However, what's elating is the way that the song repeatedly threatens to lose its motor – and then regains it, by a whisker. All that downward movement should lead to a dead end, but just before momentum runs out, the vocal lifts to even out and stabilize the track. The lyrics are self-reflexive; the phrase "Turn around, ask yourself" is used as a pivot, a chance for the song to do a 180-degree turn.[6]

Music video

The video clip was produced by Jean-Baptiste Mondino. It shows Cherry on a virtual beach, while several other people can be seen in the background. Cherry's daughters, Naima and Tyson, and her step-son, Marlon Roudette, also appear in the video. The camera "slowly rocks back and forth" in line with the beat of the song.[3]

Track listing and formats

  • 7-inch vinyl and CD single
  1. "Manchild" – 3:52
  2. "Manchild (The Original Mix)" – 4:44
  • US 7-inch vinyl and CD single
  1. "Manchild (Edit)" – 3:51
  2. "Phoney Ladies" – 3:52
  • 12-inch vinyl
  1. "Manchild (The Old School Mix)" – 5:32
  2. "Manchild (The Original Mix) – 4:44
  3. "Buffalo Stance (The There's Nothing Wrong Mix - Sukka Mix II)" – 5:36
  • 12-inch remix vinyl
  1. "Manchild (Massive Attack Remix)" – 5:24
  2. "Manchild (Massive Attack Bonus Beats)" – 0:55
  3. "Manchild (Smith & Mighty Remix)" – 4:39
  4. "Manchild (Smith & Mighty More Bass - Less Vocal Style)" – 4:39

Charts

Sia version

In April 2022, Australian singer Sia released a version as the lead single from Cherry's album The Versions, released in June of the same year.[29]

References

  1. ^ "New Singles". Music Week. 6 May 1989. p. 42.
  2. ^ a b "The J Files: Neneh Cherry". Double J. 5 October 2017. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  3. ^ a b c Neneh Cherry's 'Manchild' Tops Among Music Videos, Los Angeles Times, 19 November 1989
  4. ^ "Neneh Cherry Raw Like Sushi Review". BBC. 2009. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  5. ^ "Previews: Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. 20 May 1989. p. 18. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  6. ^ Chow, Lesley (12 May 2014). "Disorientating Eclecticism: Neneh Cherry's Raw Like Sushi Revisited". The Quietus. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  7. ^ "Response from ARIA re: chart inquiry, received 17 January 2014". Imgur. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
  8. ^ "Neneh Cherry – Manchild" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  9. ^ "Neneh Cherry – Manchild" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  10. ^ Danish Singles Chart 16 June 1989
  11. ^ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 6, no. 29. 22 July 1989. p. IV. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  12. ^ Nyman, Jake (2005). Suomi soi 4: Suuri suomalainen listakirja (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 951-31-2503-3.
  13. ^ "Neneh Cherry – Manchild" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  14. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Manchild". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  15. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 26, 1989" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  16. ^ "Neneh Cherry – Manchild" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  17. ^ "Neneh Cherry – Manchild". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  18. ^ "Neneh Cherry – Manchild". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  19. ^ "Neneh Cherry – Manchild". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  20. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  21. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Neneh Cherry – Manchild" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  22. ^ "Jaaroverzichten 1989" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  23. ^ "Eurochart Hot 100 – 1989" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 6, no. 51. 23 December 1989. p. 6 (11 of PDF). Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  24. ^ "Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 1989". Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  25. ^ "Jaaroverzichten – Single 1989" (in Dutch). MegaCharts. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  26. ^ "End of Year Charts 1989". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  27. ^ "Schweizer Jahreshitparade 1989" (in German). Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  28. ^ "Top 100 Singles–Jahrescharts 1989" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  29. ^ "Sia Adds Her Take On 'Manchild' To Neneh Cherry's Upcoming Album The Versions". Soul Bound. April 2022. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
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