"Manchild" is a song by Swedish singer-songwriter

Neneh Cherry Neneh Mariann Karlsson (; born 10 March 1964), better known as Neneh Cherry, is a Swedish singer, songwriter, rapper, occasional disc jockey, and broadcaster. Her musical career started in London in the early 1980s, where she performed in a numb ...

, released in May 1989 by

Virgin Virginity is a social construct that denotes the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. As it is not an objective term with an operational definition, social definitions of what constitutes virginity, or the lack thereof ...

and Circa as the second single from her debut album, ''

Raw Like Sushi ''Raw Like Sushi'' is the debut studio album by Swedish musician Neneh Cherry, released 5 June 1989 by Virgin Records. The album includes the commercially successful single " Buffalo Stance". Background An early version of "Buffalo Stance" appe ...

'' (1989). It was the first song Cherry wrote; she composed it 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. It ...

keyboard using an auto-chord setting and ended up with seven 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. He played one game in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Boston Bruins. After concluding a playing career in the A ...

commented on this positively, comparing it to a jazz song structure.

Nellee Hooper Paul Andrew "Nellee" Hooper (born 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 with Scot ...

created 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 (sound system), the Wild Bunch, and later as ...

. Cherry then gave the track to her future husband,

Cameron McVey Cameron Andrew McVey (born 11 August 1957) is an English singer, songwriter and record producer. He has worked with the acts Massive Attack, Portishead (band), Portishead, All Saints (group), All Saints, Sugababes, and his wife Neneh Cherry. H ...

, 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". Cherry expressed the significance of the song for herself, stating it is 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". Commercially, "Manchild" was a top-10 success in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and several European countries, but it did not chart in the United States or Canada. The music video for "Manchild", directed by

Jean-Baptiste Mondino Jean-Baptiste Mondino (born Aubervilliers, France on 21 July 1949) is a French fashion photographer and music video director. He has directed music videos for Madonna (entertainer), Madonna, David Bowie, Sting (musician), Sting, Björk, Don Henley, ...

, was nominated for "Best Video" at the

1990 Brit Awards Brit Awards 1990 was the tenth 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 Domin ...

Reception

Critical reception

The ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' 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 were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

ic broadside."Neneh Cherry's 'Manchild' Tops Among Music Videos
''

'', 19 November 1989 Mark Lepage from ''

Montreal Gazette ''The Gazette'', also known as the ''Montreal Gazette'', is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper which is owned by Postmedia Network. It is published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the only English-language daily newspape ...

'' felt it "has a graceful sweep". A reviewer from ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later m ...

'' described "Manchild" as "slower and more melodic" than "

Buffalo Stance "Buffalo Stance" is a song by Swedish singer-songwriter Neneh Cherry, released in November 1988 by Circa and Virgin Records as the first single from the singer's debut album, ''Raw Like Sushi'' (1989). The song was co-written by Cherry and produ ...

", 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 We ...

'' 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 Sylvia Patterson (born 8 March 1965) is a Scottish author and music journalist. A former contributor to ''Smash Hits'' and the ''NME'', she is the author of the memoirs ''I'm Not With The Band'' (2016) and ''Same Old Girl'' (2023). Life Patterson ...

from ''

Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand ...

'' named it Single of the Fortnight, saying, "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 a 2009 review of ''

'', Angus Taylor for

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

noted, that the "offbeat, ambient ballad 'Manchild' showcases Cherry's maternal side". In 2014, Lesley Chow from ''

The Quietus ''The Quietus'' is a British online music and pop culture magazine founded by John Doran and Luke Turner. The site is an editorially independent publication led by Doran with a group of freelance journalists and critics. Content ''The Quietu ...

'' wrote,

Music video

The accompanying music video for "Manchild" was produced by French fashion photographer and music video director

. 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,

Marlon Roudette Marlon Roudette (born 5 January 1982) is an English singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is the former front man for the duo Mattafix who had their first number 1, "Big City Life", in 2006. After the group split, Roudette embarked on a s ...

, also appear in the video. The camera "slowly rocks back and forth" in line with the beat of the song. It was later made available on Cherry's official YouTube channel in 2009.

Track listings

* 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" (

Massive Attack Massive Attack are an English trip hop collective formed in 1988 in Bristol, England, by Robert Del Naja, Robert "3D" Del Naja, Daddy G, Grant "Daddy G" Marshall, Tricky (musician), Adrian "Tricky" Thaws and Andrew Vowles, Andrew "Mushroom" ...

remix) – 5:24 :A2. "Manchild" (Massive Attack Bonus Beats) – 0:55 :B1. "Manchild" (

Smith & Mighty Smith & Mighty are an English trip hop group from Bristol, England, consisting of Rob Smith, Ray Mighty and Peter D Rose. They pioneered the Bristol sound producing Massive Attack's "Any Love". The Bristol sound being a precursor to trip hop. ...

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

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Sia version

In April 2022, Australian singer Sia released a version as a promotional single from Cherry's sixth studio album ''

The Versions ''The Versions'' is the sixth studio album by Neneh Cherry, released on 10 June 2022 via EMI Records. The album consists of reworked versions of songs from Cherry's back catalogue, featuring guest appearances by artists including Robyn and Sia. ...

'', released in June of the same year.

References

{{Authority control 1989 singles 1989 songs 2022 singles Music videos directed by Jean-Baptiste Mondino Neneh Cherry songs Sia (musician) songs Song recordings produced by Cameron McVey Songs written by Cameron McVey Songs written by Neneh Cherry Songs written by Robert Del Naja Virgin Records singles