Neneh Cherry

Released: October 17, 1995

Songwriter: Marvin Gaye

Producer: Mark Saunders Booga Bear

I've come up hard baby
And now I'm cool
Didn't make it sugar
Playing by the rules
I've come up hard baby
But now I'm fine
In checking trouble sugar
Moving down the line
I've come up hard baby
But that's ok
'Coz trouble man
Don't get in my way
I've come up hard baby
I've been for real
Gonna keep on moving
Gonna go to town
I've come up hard
Come up and get down
There's only three things that's for sure
Taxes death and trouble
This I know baby
Oh I've come up hard baby
With a troubled mind
But then I've got my share
Of what's mine
Oh I've come up hard baby
But that's Ok
'Coz trouble man
Don't get in my way
Oh I've come up hard baby
I know some places
And I see some faces
I've got the connections
They dig my directions
What people say
That's ok
They don't bother me
I'm ready to make it
Don't care what the weather
Don't care about no trouble
Got myself together
Got the kind of protection
It's all around me
I've come up hard but now I'm cool
I didn't make it baby
Playing by the rules
Oh I've come up hard baby
But that's Ok
'Coz trouble man
Don't get in my way
Oh I've come up hard baby
With the troubled mind
But then I've got my share
Of what's mine
I've come up hard
But now I'm fine
Checking trouble sugar
Moving down the line ....

Neneh Mariann Karlsson was born in Sweden to a Swedish mother and a father from Sierra Leone. Her mother raised her in a commune with her stepfather, jazz musician Don Cherry (father of Eagle Eye Cherry).

She moved to London in the 1980s and immersed herself in the Bristol music scene (where Massive Attack and Portishead would form), getting involved with bands such as The Cherries, The Slits, New Age Steppers, Rip Rig + Panic and Float Up CP.

But it was her collaboration with the duo Morgan-McVey, who released only the one single “Looking Good Diving”, that would be the springboard to launch her into international stardom. The single’s B-side featured Cherry rapping over the A-side’s instrumental tracks with what later became the lyrics to her 1988 debut breakout single “Buffalo Stance” (its music reworked by Bomb The Bass' Tim Simenon) – which reached the top 10 in eleven countries.

more tracks from the album

Man

From the albums

Inner City Blues: The Music of Marvin Gaye (1995)
Man (1996)

Neneh Cherry popular songs

Trouble ManNeneh Cherry

Neneh Cherry

Man