Buffalo Stance by Neneh Cherry Lyrics Meaning – Exploring the Anthem of Female Empowerment and Street Savvy
Lyrics
And gimme a beat? Ouch
Ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to introduce the high hat
Go on, mmh, that’s good
Now the tambourine, right now
Mmh, woo, yeah, DJ
Who’s that gigolo on the street
With his hands in his pockets and his crocodile feet?
Hanging off the curb, looking all disturbed
As the boys from home, they all came running
They were making noise, manhandling toys
There’s the girls on the block with the nasty curls
Wearing padded bras sucking beers through their straws
Dropping down their drawers, where did you get yours?
(Gigolo) huh, sucka?
(Gigolo, Gigolo)
Huh, sucka? (Gigolo)
Who’s looking good today?
Who’s looking good in every way?
No style rookie
You better watch don’t mess with me
No moneyman can win my love
It’s sweetness that I’m thinking of
We always hang in a Buffalo Stance
We do the dive every time we dance
I’ll give you love, baby, not romance
I’ll make a move nothing left to chance
So don’t you get fresh with me
Get funky, yeah Timmy
Tell it like it is (uh)
Baby, check out this DJ
So you say you wanted money but you know it’s never funny
When your shoes worn through and there’s a rumble in your tummy
But you had to have style, get a gold tooth smile
Put a girl on the corner so you can make a pile
Committed a crime and went inside
It was coming your way but you had to survive
When you lost your babe, you lost the race
Now you’re looking at me to take her place
Who’s looking good today?
Who’s looking good in every way?
No style rookie
You better watch don’t mess with me
No moneyman can win my love
It’s sweetness that I’m thinking of
We always hang in a Buffalo Stance
We do the dive every time we dance
I’ll give you love, baby, not romance
I’ll make a move nothing left to chance
So don’t you get fresh with me
Smokin’, not cokin’, yeah, funky sax
Looking good, hanging with the wild bunch
Looking good in a Buffalo Stance
Looking good when it comes to the crunch
Looking good’s a state of mind
State of mind don’t look behind you
State of mind or you’ll be dead
State of mind may I remind you
Bomb the Bass, rock this place
What is he like? What’s he like anyway?
Yo, man what do you expect? The guy’s a gigolo, man
You know what I mean? Uh
No moneyman can win my love
It’s sweetness that I’m thinking of
We always hang in a Buffalo Stance
We do the dive every time we dance
I’ll give you love, baby, not romance
I’ll make a move nothing left to chance
So don’t you get fresh with me
No moneyman can win my love
It’s sweetness that I’m thinking of
We always hang in a Buffalo Stance
We do the dive every time we dance
I’ll give you love, baby, not romance
I’ll make a move nothing left to chance
So don’t you get fresh with me
Wind on my face, sound in my ears
Water from my eyes, and you on my mind
As I sink, diving down deep, deeper into your soul
No moneyman can win my love
It’s sweetness that I’m thinking of
No moneyman can win my love
It’s sweetness that I’m thinking of
No moneyman can win my love
No moneyman can win my love
No moneyman can win my love
No moneyman can win my love
No moneyman
When the beat drops on Neneh Cherry’s ‘Buffalo Stance’, you’re immediately transported into a world of hip-hop infused bravado, swirling with the energies of street culture and feminist assertion. The 1988 track isn’t just a catchy dance-floor filler; it’s a layered narrative that dances on the tightrope of social commentary and personal empowerment.
Breaking it down, ‘Buffalo Stance’ conjures a visual and auditory spectacle that juxtaposes fashion forwardness with critical observations on love and materialism. Cherry’s lyrical prowess shines as she steers the narrative with the confidence of a woman who knows her worth and is unafraid to broadcast it.
Swag in Sound: The Defiant Beat of ‘Buffalo Stance’
The track opens with a call to the DJ, a shoutout to street credibility as Cherry rhymes over a hard-hitting, sampled beat. The mix of hip-hop flow with dance-pop yields a sonic declaration of independence, one that refuses to be boxed in, much like the lyrical protagonist of the song.
Euphoric high hats and suggestive tambourines set the perfect backdrop for Cherry’s fusion of rap and melody. This defiance in sound becomes a mirror of the defiance in her words – a resistance against being objectified or monetized.
High Heels on High Streets: Visualizing the ‘Buffalo Stance’
Named after the attitude-heavy stance of models in Buffalo, a group associated with the 80s fashion scene, the ‘Buffalo Stance’ is a metaphorical grounding of one’s self in confidence and style. It’s a posture that says, ‘I am here, and I will not be moved,’ reflecting Cherry’s own background as a stepdaughter of jazz great Don Cherry and someone at the heart of creative and multicultural influences.
The song’s visual elements underscore the gritty and glamorous life in urban settings, where fashion and individualism can be tools of empowerment against systemic structures silently demanding conformity.
The Currency of Love: Decoding Materialism vs. Authenticity
Money is a recurrent theme, but for Cherry, no ‘moneyman’ can buy her love. It’s a statement on the commodification of relationships and the music industry. She isn’t searching for a sugar daddy; her love can’t be purchased with gold chains or status symbols, but only earned with genuineness and heartfelt ‘sweetness’.
This is the ‘Buffalo Stance’ – an avowal to live without selling out, preserving integrity in the face of commercialization. Each verse weaves this defiance; even amidst ‘boys from home’ or ‘girls with nasty curls’, the protagonist remains uncompromised and true in her pursuit of realness.
The Sonic Boom of a Cultural Clash
‘Buffalo Stance’ is a cultural clash, encompassing street wisdom, fashion bravado, and the unflinching gaze of a woman’s personal power. It’s an urban dance anthem that stands firm in the winds of societal expectations, declaring love and life terms on its own merits.
Neneh Cherry’s sonic portrait of 80s inner-city life and its eccentricities – from fashionistas to hustlers – still resonates because it captures a timeless spirit of confronting and reshaping one’s own destiny amidst turbulence and trends.
Diving Deep Into the Soulful Outro: A Reflection Beyond the Surface
As the song reaches for its soulful outro, we get a raw disclosure of vulnerability amid the previously pumped-up beats. ‘Wind on my face, sound in my ears, water from my eyes, and you on my mind’ – it’s a poetic descent into introspection, a contrasting quietude that insinuates there’s more depth to the swaggering stance than meets the eye.
In this multifaceted reflection, Cherry presents an invitation to dive past the veneer of stances and sunkissed cheeks, reaching instead for a truer connection, unquantifiable by the ‘moneyman’s’ stretch. This tonal shift whispers the complexity of human emotion behind the exultation of self-reliance and celebrates the sweetness inherent in authentic expression.
