"Man's World" is a song recorded, written, and produced by Welsh singer-songwriter

Marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : "related to the sea") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or cargo ...

for her fifth studio album, ''

Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land ''Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land'' is the fifth studio album by Welsh singer-songwriter Marina Diamandis, and her second under the Mononym, mononym Marina. The album was released on 11 June 2021 through Atlantic Records. She began writing music ...

'' (2021). The song was also produced by American musician

Jennifer Decilveo Jennifer Decilveo is an American Grammy-winning, Brit and Mercury Prize-nominated record producer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter. Her production and songwriting credits include Beth Ditto of The Gossip, Bat for Lashes, Andra Day, Porridg ...

, who Marina enlisted as part of her effort to work with an all-female production team. It was released as the album's

lead single A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. A similar term, "debut ...

on 18 November 2020 by

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

. A stripped-down version of the song was made available the next month. Atlantic commissioned two remixes of the song, which were produced by Muna and

Empress Of Lorely Rodriguez (born October 19, 1989), known professionally as Empress Of, is a Honduran-American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer based in Los Angeles, California. She has released four studio albums: her critically accla ...

featuring

Pabllo Vittar Phabullo Rodrigues da Silva (born 1 November 1993), known professionally as Pabllo Vittar (), is a Brazilian drag queen and singer. Life and career 1993–2016: Early life Born in São Luís, Maranhão, São Luís, Phabullo is a fraternal twi ...

, and released in 2021. "Man's World" is a midtempo

alternative pop Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

track with a piano-driven beat and a dreamy sound. Its lyrics criticise history's oppressive treatment of women and minority groups, and Marina states that she no longer wishes to live in a world exclusively led by men. The song received positive reviews from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...

, and Marina's fulfillment of her promise to work with all-females on the track was commonly discussed. Commercially, "Man's World" entered New Zealand's Hot 40 Singles chart and reached the lower positions of the United Kingdom's downloads and sales component charts, compiled by the

Official Charts Company The Official UK Charts Company Limited (formerly Music Industry Chart Services Limited), trading as the Official Charts Company (OCC) or the Official Charts (formerly the Chart Information Network), is a British inter-professional organisation ...

. The accompanying music video for the song was released the same day as the song and directed by Alexandra Gavillet. Filmed in

Simi Valley Simi Valley (; Chumash: ''Shimiyi'') is a city in the valley of the same name in southeastern Ventura County, California, United States. It is from Downtown Los Angeles, making it part of the Greater Los Angeles Area. Simi Valley borders Th ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, it features the singer performing evocative choreography with a troupe of similarly dressed dancers and was inspired by the works of the

neoclassicism Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative arts, decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiq ...

movement.

Background and release

In 2019,

released ''

Love + Fear ''Love + Fear'' is the fourth studio album by Welsh singer-songwriter Marina Diamandis and her first under the mononym Marina. It was released in full on 26 April 2019 by Atlantic Records, though the album's first half was released on 4 April 2 ...

'', her fourth studio album and first without the "and the Diamonds" part of her former stage name. To promote the project, she embarked on the accompanying Love + Fear Tour later in the year and released her sixth extended play ''

Love + Fear (Acoustic) Love is a feeling of strong attraction and emotional attachment to a person, animal, or thing. It is expressed in many forms, encompassing a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good hab ...

'' in September 2019. Following the tour's completion, she began songwriting for a new album; in January 2020, Marina posted to her

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

account, confirming that she was working on songs, with a photograph that used the caption "Album 5". Another post revealed that she had also been writing lyrics while on holiday in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. Later into the year, she released the standalone single " About Love" in February, which was featured on

the soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured ...

to the American romantic comedy film '' To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You'' (2020). Throughout the summer months, Marina teased that she was close to finishing the album and had plans to release new material soon. Former interviews claimed that her next studio album would feature a team of female musicians, in contrast to her experience with ''Love + Fear'' in 2019. Behind her intentions, she stated that she was startled to learn "that only two per cent of producers and three per cent of engineers across popular music are women". In September 2020, Marina shared a snippet of a previously unreleased song called "Happy Loner", leaving critics to assume that new music from the singer would arrive shortly. On 13 November 2020, she officially confirmed the release of a new song, titled "Man's World", when she posted the single's cover artwork to her social media accounts. She also posted a photograph of herself containing the lyric "I don't wanna live in a man's world anymore". Mike Wass, a contributor to

Idolator An idolator is a practitioner of idolatry. Idolator or Idolater may also refer to: * Idolator (website), an American music blog * ''Idolator'' (album), a 2005 album by Blood Stain Child * ''Idolator'', a 1986 album by Ole Evenrud * "Idolater", a ...

, remarked that "Marina has traditionally spent several years on projects" so the announcement of "Man's World" was unexpected. "Man's World" was produced by American musician

, and written and co-produced by Marina. Marina revealed in an interview with ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** '' Vogue Adria'', a fashion magazine for former Yugoslav countries ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ' ...

'' that the song was intended to be released in April 2020 to coincide with her performance at the

Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival Coachella (officially called the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and sometimes known as Coachella Festival) is an annual music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valley in the Colora ...

, but the cancellation of the festival due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

prevented it. Ultimately, it was released for digital download and

streaming Streaming media refers to multimedia delivered through a network for playback using a media player. Media is transferred in a ''stream'' of packets from a server to a client and is rendered in real-time; this contrasts with file downl ...

in various countries on 18 November 2020, through

. That same day, Marina created a pre-order link for a limited edition

7" single In music, a single is a type of release of a song recording of fewer tracks than an album ( LP), typically one or two tracks. A single can be released for sale to the public in a variety of physical or digital formats. Singles may be standal ...

on her official merchandise website, limited to 3,000 copies, pressed on pink-coloured vinyl, and containing a previously unreleased

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

. The release was originally scheduled for 12 March 2021, but was delayed until 9 April. On 11 December 2020, a stripped-down version of "Man's World" was released to digital retailers, featuring a black and white variant of the cover artwork. On that same day via

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

in the US, the "Stripped" version was bundled with the original version of the song as part of a digital extended play to stream. Additionally, Atlantic commissioned several remixes of the song that were first announced in November 2020. The first remix, by American group Muna, was digitally released on 6 January 2021. A second remix, produced by

and featuring Brazilian drag queen

, was released on 4 February 2021.

Composition and lyrics

Musically, "Man's World" is a melodic

song. Tom Skinner from ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' called the song dreamy. Keaton Bell from ''

'' described the single as a "soaring pop anthem" that "sounds as big as the topics she's singing about". He also compared it to the song "Savages" from her third studio album, ''

Froot ''Froot'' is the third studio album by Welsh singer-songwriter Marina Diamandis and her last under the stage name Marina and the Diamonds. It was originally scheduled to be released on 3 April 2015 by Neon Gold Records and Atlantic Records, al ...

'' (2015). Marina explained to Bell her inspiration behind the track:

At the time I was mostly inspired by the shifts that are happening for people who are discriminated against. The original idea for the song was to write a snapshot of how women and LGBTQ+ individuals have been subjugated and discriminated against throughout history going back to the Salem witch trials, where any person who was deemed abnormal or slightly alternative was singled out. Those kinds of patterns are still present in society. That’s something inspiring to me and worth writing about.

The song's instrumentation consists of piano, performed by Marina herself, in addition to Patrick Kelly on bass, Sam Kauffman on drums, and David Levita on guitar. Decilveo contributes on keyboards and synthesizer, is credited as the drum programmer, and also provided the background vocals for the track. It was mastered by

Emily Lazar Emily B. Lazar is an American mastering engineer. She is the founder, president, and chief mastering engineer of The Lodge, an audio mastering facility that has operated in New York City's Greenwich Village since 1997. She won a Grammy Award for ...

and recorded by Cian Riordan and Decilveo. Lyrically, "Man's World" finds Marina criticising the poor treatment of "women and other minority groups throughout history". In the first verse she sings: "Burnt me at the stake, you thought I was a witch / Centuries ago, now you just call me a bitch". Some lyrics reference former actress

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe ( ; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; June 1, 1926 August 4, 1962) was an American actress and model. Known for playing comic "Blonde stereotype#Blonde bombshell, blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex ...

or controversial subject matters, such as

Hassanal Bolkiah Hassanal Bolkiah Muiz'zaddin Wad'daulah (born 15 July 1946) is the List of sultans of Brunei, Sultan of Brunei since 1967, and Prime Minister of Brunei, prime minister of Brunei since its independence from the United Kingdom in 1984. He is one ...

, the current

Sultan of Brunei The Sultan of Brunei is the monarchical head of state of Brunei and head of government in his capacity as prime minister of Brunei. Since independence from the British in 1984, only one sultan has reigned, though the royal institution dates bac ...

. Marina criticises Bolkiah and name-drops

the Beverly Hills Hotel The Beverly Hills Hotel, also called the Beverly Hills Hotel and Bungalows, is located on Sunset Boulevard in Beverly Hills, California. One of the world's best-known hotels, it is closely associated with Hollywood film stars, rock stars, and ce ...

, which he owns, where she references "a sheik who killed thousands of gay men" and concludes "I guess that's why he bought the campest hotel in LA then". Her decision to blast "his use of

Sharia Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...

law against

homosexuals Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" exc ...

" was considered to be an effort to bring attention to the highly-contested issue, according to a contributor to Contactmusic.com. Derrick Rossignol from

Uproxx Uproxx Studios (stylized as ''UPROXX'') is an American music, entertainment and popular culture website and content studio. It was founded in 2008 by Jarret Myer and Brian Brater. The website was acquired in 2014 by Woven Digital (which later ...

said that the song's chorus ("

Mother Nature Mother Nature (sometimes known as Mother Earth or the Earth Mother) is a personification of nature that focuses on the life-giving and nurturing aspects of nature by embodying it, in the form of a mother or mother goddess. European concept tr ...

's dying, nobody's keeping score / I don't want to live in a man's world anymore") confirms that "Marina put her money where her mouth is", in regards to her decision to work with female musicians on her fifth album.

Reception

Mike Wass from

called the song "biting and very necessary," and described the chorus as catchy. A contributor to '' DIY'' labelled the track as an "empowering bop" and noted how Marina stayed true to her word by working with all females. A staff member from ''

Paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, Textile, rags, poaceae, grasses, Feces#Other uses, herbivore dung, or other vegetable sources in water. Once the water is dra ...

'' liked the song, explaining that they were grateful for Marina "getting busy" and remaining productive despite the circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic. In their review of the song's music video, a contributor to Contactmusic.com wrote that the song "highlights what a sensational, individual and captivating voice Marina possess s her vocal delivery here is sensational." '' Dork''s Abigail Firth also discussed Marina's vocals, calling them delightful. In his review of the parent album, Thomas H. Green from ''

The Arts Desk ''The Arts Desk'' (theartsdesk.com) is a British arts journalism website containing reviews, interviews, news, and other content related to music, theatre, television, films, and other art forms written by journalists from a variety of tradition ...

'' acclaimed both "Man's World" and the

title track A title track is a song that has the same name as the album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-t ...

for their chutzpah. Jem Aawad from ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' featured it in the magazine's "Best Songs of the Week" column during the third week of November 2020.

Chart performance

"Man's World" entered the

record chart A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, ofte ...

s in two countries. In the United Kingdom, the song did not reach the

's UK Singles Chart, which ranks the country's top 100 most popular songs weekly. However, it did chart on the download component chart during the week of 20 November 2020. It debuted at number 96, the same week that it appeared on the sales component chart at number 99. The latter position later improved to number 29, during the week of 24 June 2021. It also reached the charts in New Zealand, compiled by

Recorded Music NZ Recorded Music NZ (formerly the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ)) is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell recorded music in New Zealand. Membership of Recorded ...

, where it debuted on the Hot 40 Singles chart at number 36 during the week of 30 November.

Music video

The accompanying

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

for "Man's World" was first announced on 16 November 2020 when she uploaded a 15-second teaser of the clip to her social media accounts. It premiered on her

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

account at approximately 9:30 AM ( PST) on 18 November 2020, exactly when the single itself was released. According to Marina, the visual was inspired by the

movement of the nineteenth century, particularly the paintings of English artist

John William Godward John William Godward (9 August 1861 – 13 December 1922) was an English painter from the end of the Neo-Classicist era. He was a protégé of Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, but his style of painting fell out of favour with the rise of modern a ...

. It was filmed on-location in

and directed by Alexandra Gavillet. Alongside the YouTube release of the music video, it was made available for download via Apple Music on the same day, 18 November 2020.References regarding the release of the music video for "Man's World" by Marina on Apple Music: * * * * *

Track listings and formats

* 7" vinyl # "Man's World"3:28 # "Man's World" ( Muna remix)2:59 * Digital download/promotional CD single/streaming # "Man's World"3:28 *Digital download/streamingEmpress Of remix # "Man's World" (

remix featuring

)3:10 * Digital download/streamingMuna remix # "Man's World" ( Muna remix)2:59 * Digital download/streamingstripped # "Man's World" (stripped)3:38 * StreamingEmpress Of remix (Spotify EP edition) # "Man's World" (

remix featuring

)3:11 # "Man's World" ( Muna remix)2:59 # "Man's World"3:28 # "Man's World" (stripped)3:38 * StreamingMuna remix (Spotify EP edition) # "Man's World" ( Muna remix)2:59 # "Man's World"3:28 # "Man's World" (stripped)3:38 * Streamingstripped (Spotify EP edition) # "Man's World" (stripped)3:38 # "Man's World"3:28

Credits and personnel

Song

Credits adapted from

Tidal Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also refer to: * ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple * Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim * TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music * Tidal (servic ...

. *

Marina Diamandis Marina Lambrini Diamandis ( ; ; born 10 October 1985), known mononymously as Marina (often stylised in all caps) and previously by the stage name Marina and the Diamonds, is a Greek-Welsh singer, songwriter, poet and record producer. Born in B ...

vocals, writer, producer, piano * Jennifer Decilveoproducer, background vocals, drum programming, recording, keyboards, synthesizer * Jacob Johnstonassistant engineer * Nick Brummeassistant engineer * Emily Lazarmastering * Dan Gretchmixing * Cian Riordanrecording * Patrick Kellybass * Sam Kauffmandrums * David Levitaguitar

Music video

Credits adapted from Marina's Instagram and YouTube accounts. * Alexandra Gavilletdirector * Marina Diamandiswriter, creative direction, story * Briana Gonzalesproducer * Fiorella Occhipinticinematographer * Anakaeditor * Mercedes Nataliastylist * Olimacostume designer * Kate Linganmakeup artist * Rena Calhounhair stylist * Mini Moronimovement director * Cathy Coopercast member * Joe Daviscast member * Reshma Gajjarcast member * Sabrina Johnsoncast member * Maria Maeacast member * Gabriela Ruizcast member

Charts

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mans World (song) 2020 singles 2020 songs Atlantic Records singles Environmental songs LGBTQ-related songs Marina Diamandis songs Songs with feminist themes Songs written by Marina Diamandis