Manchild (song)

The Los Angeles Times 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 balladic broadside."[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-11-19-ca-137-story.html Neneh Cherry's 'Manchild' Tops Among Music Videos], Los Angeles Times, 19 November 1989 Mark Lepage from Montreal Gazette felt it "has a graceful sweep".Lepage, Mark (22 June 1989). "McCartney tunes less sunny under influence of Costello". Montreal Gazette. p. C3. A reviewer from Music & Media described "Manchild" as "slower and more melodic" than "Buffalo Stance", declaring it as "a strong and highly commercial follow-up with a warm production."{{cite magazine|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-and-Media/80s/1989/M&M-1989-05-20.pdf|title=Previews: Singles|magazine=Music & Media|date=20 May 1989|page=18|accessdate=25 September 2020}} Jerry Smith from Music Week 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."{{cite magazine|first=Jerry|last=Smith|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/1989/MW-1989-05-06.pdf|title=Singles|work=Music Week|date=6 May 1989|page=27|access-date=13 March 2023}} Sylvia Patterson from Smash Hits 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."{{cite magazine|first=Sylvia|last=Patterson|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/57779449@N02/33515138434/in/album-72157683231892995/|title=Singles: Single of the Fortnight|work=Smash Hits|date=3 May 1989|page=59|access-date=9 March 2023|author-link=Sylvia Patterson}}

In a 2009 review of Raw Like Sushi, Angus Taylor for BBC noted, that the "offbeat, ambient ballad 'Manchild' showcases Cherry's maternal side".{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/vhvr/|title=Neneh Cherry Raw Like Sushi Review|publisher=BBC|date=2009|access-date=8 April 2020}} In 2014, Lesley Chow from The Quietus wrote,

{{cquote|The title character is a guy with a run-down car, a cheating girlfriend and no willpower, so it's not surprising that we get a hypnotic sense of draining away. The strings have a repetitive, droning sound; they move gradually up or down a tone, so that the entire song seems to be slipping down a slope. A program of beats forms a continually revolving and reversing pattern, and the track feels as if it's shuffling or rotating by degrees (the video ingeniously matched this idea of constant slippage by showing Cherry surrounded by tilting levels of water). However, what's elating is the way that the song repeatedly threatens to lose its motor – and then regains it, by a whisker. All that downward movement should lead to a dead end, but just before momentum runs out, the vocal lifts to even out and stabilize the track. The lyrics are self-reflexive; the phrase "Turn around, ask yourself" is used as a pivot, a chance for the song to do a 180-degree turn.{{cite web|first= Lesley |last= Chow |title= Disorientating Eclecticism: Neneh Cherry's Raw Like Sushi Revisited |work= The Quietus |date= 12 May 2014 |access-date= 21 April 2020 |url= https://thequietus.com/articles/15219-neneh-cherry-raw-like-sushi}}}}

The accompanying music video for "Manchild" was produced by French fashion photographer and music video director Jean-Baptiste Mondino. 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, 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.

{{Cast listing|

• Woman in the black dress – Andi Oliver
• Man in the gold hat – Barry Kamen
• Man in the black hat – Judy Blame
• Girl on the swing – Naima Karlsson
• Boy jumping in puddles – Marlon Roudette
• Baby – Tyson McVey

}}

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• Non-US 7-inch single{{cite AV media notes|title=Manchild|others=Neneh Cherry|year=1989|type=European 7-inch single vinyl disc|publisher=Virgin Records, Circa Records|id=YR 30, 112 341}}

:A. "Manchild" – 3:52

:B. "Manchild" (the original mix) – 4:44

• 12-inch single{{cite AV media notes|title=Manchild|others=Neneh Cherry|year=1989|type=European 12-inch single vinyl disc|publisher=Virgin Records, Circa Records|id=YRT 30, 612 341}}

: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{{cite AV media notes|title=Manchild|others=Neneh Cherry|year=1989|type=European mini-CD single liner notes|publisher=Circa Records|id=YRCD 30}}{{cite AV media notes|title=Manchild|others=Neneh Cherry|year=1989|type=European maxi-CD single liner notes|publisher=Virgin Records, Circa Records|id=YRCDT 30, 662 341-211}}

1. "Manchild" (radio edit)
2. "Manchild" (the Old School mix)
3. "Buffalo Stance" (the There's Nothing Wrong mix – Sukka mix II)

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• UK 12-inch remix single{{cite AV media notes|title=Manchild|others=Neneh Cherry|year=1989|type=UK 12-inch remix single vinyl disc|publisher=Circa Records|id=YRTX 30}}

:A1. "Manchild" (Massive Attack remix) – 5:24

:A2. "Manchild" (Massive Attack Bonus Beats) – 0:55

:B1. "Manchild" (Smith & Mighty remix) – 4:39

:B2. "Manchild" (Smith & Mighty More Bass – Less Vocal Style) – 4:39

• UK cassette single{{cite AV media notes|title=Manchild|others=Neneh Cherry|year=1989|type=UK cassette single sleeve|publisher=Circa Records|id=YRC 30}}

1. "Manchild" (the Old School mix)
2. "Buffalo Stance" (the There's Nothing Wrong mix – Sukka mix II)

• US 7-inch and cassette single{{cite AV media notes|title=Manchild|others=Neneh Cherry|year=1989|type=US 7-inch single vinyl disc|publisher=Virgin Records|id=7-99154}}{{cite AV media notes|title=Manchild|others=Neneh Cherry|year=1989|type=US cassette single cassette notes|publisher=Virgin Records|id=4-99154}}

1. "Manchild" (edit) – 3:51
2. "Phoney Ladies" – 3:53

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{{Infobox song

| name = Manchild

| cover =

| alt =

| type = promo

| artist = Neneh Cherry and Sia

| album = The Versions

| released = {{Start date|2022|4|28|df=y}}

| recorded =

| studio =

| genre =

| length = 3:17

| label = EMI

| writer =

• Neneh Cherry
• 3D-Del Naja
• Cameron "Booga Bear" McVey

| producer = Jesse Shatkin

| misc = {{External music video|header=Lyric video|type=song|{{YouTube|iT1egmJkP0s|"Manchild (Neneh Cherry Cover)"}}}}

}}

In April 2022, Australian singer Sia released a version as a promotional single from Cherry's sixth studio album The Versions, released in June of the same year.{{cite web|url=https://soulbounce.com/2022/04/sia-neneh-cherry-manchild-the-versions/|title=Sia Adds Her Take On 'Manchild' To Neneh Cherry's Upcoming Album The Versions|website=Soul Bound|date=April 2022|access-date=21 June 2022}}{{cite web |last=Shutler |first=Ali |date=28 April 2022 |title=Neneh Cherry shares 'Manchild' featuring Sia from new collaborative album |url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/neneh-cherry-shares-manchild-ft-sia-announces-new-collaborative-album-3214707 |access-date=23 January 2024 |website=NME}}

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{{Reflist}}

{{Neneh Cherry}}

{{Sia singles}}

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Category:1989 singles

Category:1989 songs

Category:2022 singles

Category:Music videos directed by Jean-Baptiste Mondino

Category:Neneh Cherry songs

Category:Sia (musician) songs

Category:Song recordings produced by Cameron McVey

Category:Songs written by Cameron McVey

Category:Songs written by Neneh Cherry

Category:Songs written by Robert Del Naja

Category:Virgin Records singles