"Manchild" is a song by Swedish singer-songwriter
Neneh Cherry, released as the second single from her debut album, ''
Raw Like Sushi'' (1989). 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
is a Japanese multinational electronics manufacturing corporation headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. Its products include calculators, mobile phones, digital cameras, electronic musical instruments, and analogue and digital watches. I ...
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
Donald Stewart Cherry (born February 5, 1934) is a Canadian former ice hockey player, coach, and television commentator. Cherry played one game in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Boston Bruins, and later coached the team for five se ...
commented on this praisingly, comparing it to a jazz song structure.
Nellee Hooper
Nellee Hooper (born Paul Andrew Hooper on 15 March 1963) is a British record producer, remixer and songwriter known for his work with many major recording artists beginning in the late 1980s. He also debuted as a motion picture music composer w ...
did the beat for the song and wrote the rap with
Robert Del Naja
Robert Del Naja (; born 21 January 1965), also known as 3D, is a British artist, musician, singer and songwriter. He emerged as a graffiti artist and member of the Bristol collective the Wild Bunch, and later as a founding member and sole cons ...
. Neneh then gave it to
Cameron McVey
Cameron Andrew McVey (born 11 March 1957) is an English singer, songwriter and music producer. He worked with the bands Massive Attack, Portishead, All Saints, Sugababes/ Mutya Keisha Siobhan and his wife Neneh Cherry. He is the father of ...
, who helped to shape the song with the parts and "made it make sense".
The song's lyrics are "directed at a full-grown man who has a little more growing up to do".
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".
The
music video
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...
for "Manchild" was nominated for "Best Video" at the
1990 Brit Awards
Brit Awards 1990 was the 10th edition of the Brit Awards, an annual pop music awards ceremony in the United Kingdom. It was organised by the British Phonographic Industry and took place on 18 February 1990. The ceremony was held at the Dominion ...
.
Reception
Critical reception
The ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
'' 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
ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...
ic broadside."
[Neneh Cherry's 'Manchild' Tops Among Music Videos](_blank)
''Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
'', 19 November 1989 Mark Lepage from ''
Montreal Gazette
The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...
'' felt it "has a graceful sweep". A reviewer from ''
Music & Media'' described "Manchild" as "slower and more melodic" than "
Buffalo Stance
"Buffalo Stance" is a song by Swedish singer Neneh Cherry, released from her debut album, '' Raw Like Sushi'' (1989), in November 1988. The song peaked at 3 on both the UK Singles Chart and the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and it reached No. 1 in ...
", declaring it as "a strong and highly commercial follow-up with a warm production." Jerry Smith from ''
Music Week
''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future.
History
Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...
'' complimented it as "a simple but highly effective ballad, sure to give her another hit. It's not as immediate but instead has a chorus with a hook that really bites deep after a few plays." Sylvia Patterson from ''
Smash Hits'' said, "It's nothing like her last single, the stoating "Buffalo Stance", even though there's a few mean rappin' blethers in it but it's the chorus that curdles your windpipe. There's loads of floaty "pshoooo!!" noises and curious keyboard wizardries and it's highly creepy and mesmerising and makes you go all funny in the head."
Retrospective response
In an 2009 review of ''
Raw Like Sushi'', Angus Taylor for
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
noted, that the "offbeat, ambient ballad" "Manchild" "showcases Cherry's maternal side". In 2014, Lesley Chow from ''
. 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,
, also appear in the video. The camera "slowly rocks back and forth" in line with the beat of the song.
* Non-US 7-inch single
:A. "Manchild" – 3:52
:B. "Manchild" (The Original mix) – 4:44
* 12-inch single
:A1. "Manchild" (The Old School mix) – 5:32
:B1. "Manchild" (The Original mix) – 4:44
:B2. "Buffalo Stance" (The There's Nothing Wrong mix – Sukka Mix II) – 5:36
* European mini-CD and maxi-CD single
# "Manchild" (radio edit)
# "Manchild" (The Old School mix)
# "Buffalo Stance" (The There's Nothing Wrong mix – Sukka Mix II)
* UK 12-inch remix single
:A1. "Manchild" (
remix) – 5:24
:A2. "Manchild" (Massive Attack Bonus Beats) – 0:55
:B1. "Manchild" (
remix) – 4:39
:B2. "Manchild" (Smith & Mighty More Bass - Less Vocal Style) – 4:39
* UK cassette single
# "Manchild" (The Old School mix)
# "Buffalo Stance" (The There's Nothing Wrong mix – Sukka Mix II)
* US 7-inch and cassette single
# "Manchild" (edit) – 3:51
# "Phoney Ladies" – 3:53
'', released in June of the same year.