Neneh Cherry

Songwriter: Booga Bear Neneh Cherry Robert “3D” del Naja

Producer: Tim Simenon Mark Saunders

OK, you're on your own, it's late
Your girlfriend is on another date with the hero in your dream
Turn around, ask yourself
So, you think you're gonna win this time Manchild?

Is it the pain of the drinking
Or the Sunday sinking feeling
The car never seems to work
When it's late your girlfriend's on a date
And the hero with her in your dream
In your sleep it seemed like you
Turn around ask yourself
Turn around ask yourself

Manchild, will you ever win
Manchild, look at the state you're in

Could you go undercover
And sell your brand new lover (could you)
Be someone else for a night
Maybe someone else will love you
You'd sell your soul for a tacky song
Like the ones you hear on the radio
Turn around ask yourself
Turn around and ask yourself

Manchild, will you ever win
Manchild, look at the state you're in
Manchild, he will make you cry
Manchild, Manchild, Manchild

From Monday down to Friday
You're working on another man's car
Or is it in the factory?
It doesn't matter where you are

Just turn around and ask yourself is this communication
Accentuate the positive to give some illustration
See Manchild, you're no one, I turn the microphone on
Control communication when I'm kickin' it and so on
To the point that I need, the air that I breathe
Into an audience that's waiting and ecstatic to receive
For the meantime another mean rhyme, I keep on sayin' it
I know what the time is in the crowd we'll keep on playing it
Through the speaker boxes loud's my diagnosis
'Cause I believe in miracles and words in steady doses
Enough R-E-S-P-E and C-T
Respect yourself express no stress the mike is easy
Just believe that all you need is the air that you breathe
(Turn around ask yourself)

Manchild, will you ever win
Manchild, look at the state you're in
Manchild, he will make you cry
Manchild, Manchild, Manchild
He's the apple of your eye

Once bitten twice shy, why don't you bite me again
Just take it in the right and go tell your friend
Are you ready for the words I turn the microphone on
A figure of speech to reach you at the back and so on
The style I'm stimulating dance floors
Raise your body temperature now and
This demands for power in the amp you know loud's my diagnosis
'Cause I believe in miracles and words in heavy doses

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

Raw Like Sushi

From the album

Raw Like Sushi (1989)

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Raw Like Sushi