Neneh Cherry

Songwriter: Phil Legg Booga Bear Neneh Cherry

Producer: Mark Saunders Dynamic Duo (다이나믹듀오)

New York - Just like I pictured it - skyscrapers and everything
Inna city love, you crushed me into a pulp - I trusted you

When I loved you from a distance
And your skyline made me a promise
In my safe world to be somebody
In your city to own your streets
Where I'd strut covered in money
Shattered dreams; it ain't funny

Now I look at you with tears in my eyes; The good the bad the ugly
As I start to cry, I search for the sky
Taste the breeze + watch a block of docking clouds, they're coming

[Chorus:]
Inna City Mamma; you bore another child to be victim of
Your cold blooded ways
Inna city love, From the gutter
So destructive when you sing your blues

I want to love you baby, I don't mean maybe baby
But I need everything you got (You can't break your promise)
I'm inna city hunger, you think you're tough, I'm stronger
If you're weak I'll eat you up
I'm gonna touch you where you've never been touched before
And by your spine I'll bruise your veins and touch your very core

Let my concrete be your red carpet
My shooting galleries, your personal starship
Give me all your dreams, this city loves you
Use my roots to deliver your body
Under my skies where you make your money
You rejected love, but this city loves you

[Chorus]

Inna city love, inna city mamma, inna city love
You hurt me - real bad - inna city love
You meant to love me and you cut me up into too many little pieces
But I wanna love you
I trusted you and you crushed me into a pulp
Inna city mamma

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)

Neneh Cherry popular songs

Inna City MammaNeneh Cherry

Neneh Cherry

Raw Like Sushi