Neneh Cherry

Songwriter: Booga Bear Neneh Cherry

Producer: Mark Saunders Dynamik Duo

If you're gonna play with my soul
Why don't you take a look at your own first
No pain is lean enough, it's always filled with hurt
And those feelings, you know I felt them first
And it hurts

[Chorus:]
So why don't you stop, phoney ladies, in my face to cramp my freedom
Phoney ladies that mess me up, calling names to cramp my freedom
And you don't even wanna see them, calling names to cramp my freedom
Phoney ladies that mess me up, nobody's gonna grab my freedom
Nobody's gonna mess me up

You becoming a victim of the game
Don't you forget I'm your sister and your friend too
The way you treat me will put this house to shame
Your secret conversations put you in the frame
In the frame

[Chorus ]

No money money money can buy what we've got
No money money money can buy what we've got
No money money money can buy what we've got
No money money money can buy what we've got

You're playing games
Trying to make me jealous
It'll never save us now

[Chorus]

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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