"What did mama tell you, // Did she tell you to be kind, rewind, and look out ahead? // You know, I could tell you the same goddamn thing..."
The artful dada stream of consciousness / drunken stumble of "What Did Mama Tell You?" by Cheerry Red, aka Nick Schupak, multi-instrumentalist frontman of New York's The Motor Tom, and from his sophomore full length "Radical Lifestyle Change", is a multi-leveled sonic maze that begs to be listened to and maybe even begs to be figured out, deciphered though that might be impossible without Schupak's personal cheat codes. I am not young punk, I am the opposite so my reflections on this rather twisty song will, well, reflect that and maybe why this kind of genre blended, inspired experimentation appeals to me. My aforementioned 'drunken stumble' description was not derisive but, rather, floats in that kind of Harry Nilsson-esque cocktail. AND while Nilsson's drinking problem is legendary, the best of his best celebrated songwriting was when he was NOT addicted to alcohol. Point being, the term drunken stumble here I mean as bening artfully / creatively free and that is what I feel here (un-inserting foot from mouth).
The tropicalia here, pop honkytonk, gospel, blues, rock all blending into a kind of cabaret pop, upon my very first listen, I likened to a collision of artists like Harry Nilsson, T-Rex, Pere Ubu, Manfred Mann and even the 'Zappa side of Todd Rundgren. I also love the rambling lyrics full of historic and culture references that lend a strange kind of noir aesthetic. In fact I could see (in my mind's eye) Cheerry Red playing "What Did Mama Tell You?" in a mysterious bar as cool background fodder in a movie like David Robert Mitchell's "Under the Silver Lake" or Lynne Ramsay's "You Were Never Really Here", because while there is an absurdist quality (mainly), the absurd can step into darkness sometimes and maybe does here depending on how you hear / see the sonic images on display.
LYRICS-
What did mama tell you,
Did she tell you to be kind, rewind, and look out ahead?
You know, I could tell you the same goddamn thing.
What did papa teach you,
Did he show you how to love yourself?
I coulda taught you the same goddamn thing.
Since you won’t
Be repaid
For mistakes that you’ve made
You are over overdue
For a full review
Of all that mama told you
Since you don’t
Want to try
You should find a good guy
You can stick it to
And make black and blue
Is that what mama told you?
Early mornings are rough
When your tendency is to binge, unhinge, and rinse and repeat,
You know, I’ve been doing the same goddamn thing.
Will enough be enough
When you hardly ever love yourself?
I’ve been feeling the same goddamn thing.
Since you won’t
Be repaid
For mistakes that you’ve made
You are over overdue
For a full review
Of all that mama told you
Did Sotheby’s auction every last wisdom pearl?
All of your posts from the Kennedy Compound, girl,
Tag your man as the Cape Cod Gram King
Evergreen gloss like Bunny Lebowski, woah,
Country-club set looking ever-impressed, you know,
Your estate overcame flawed planning
Since you won’t
Be repaid
For mistakes that you’ve made
You are over overdue
For a full review
Of all that mama told you
Did she tell you to be kind, rewind, and look out ahead?
You know, I could tell you the same goddamn thing.
What did papa teach you,
Did he show you how to love yourself?
I coulda taught you the same goddamn thing.
Since you won’t
Be repaid
For mistakes that you’ve made
You are over overdue
For a full review
Of all that mama told you
Since you don’t
Want to try
You should find a good guy
You can stick it to
And make black and blue
Is that what mama told you?
Early mornings are rough
When your tendency is to binge, unhinge, and rinse and repeat,
You know, I’ve been doing the same goddamn thing.
Will enough be enough
When you hardly ever love yourself?
I’ve been feeling the same goddamn thing.
Since you won’t
Be repaid
For mistakes that you’ve made
You are over overdue
For a full review
Of all that mama told you
Did Sotheby’s auction every last wisdom pearl?
All of your posts from the Kennedy Compound, girl,
Tag your man as the Cape Cod Gram King
Evergreen gloss like Bunny Lebowski, woah,
Country-club set looking ever-impressed, you know,
Your estate overcame flawed planning
Since you won’t
Be repaid
For mistakes that you’ve made
You are over overdue
For a full review
Of all that mama told you
LINER NOTES:
[Cheerry Red's second full-length, "Radical Lifestyle Change" (Hard Pack, Aug 28, 2025) presents a simplified, more fun, more efficient foil to his 2020 debut, "Can't Explain This Kind of Crazy."]
-Robb Donker Curtius
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM
https://soundcloud.com/cheerry-red
https://www.instagram.com/cheerryred/
OUT NOW
"Radical Lifestyle Change" (LP, Hard Pack Records™️, 2025)
"Can't Explain This Kind of Crazy" (LP, Hard Pack Records™️, 2021)
Cheerry Red's second full-length, "Radical Lifestyle Change" (Hard Pack, Aug 28, 2025) presents a simplified, more fun, more efficient foil to his 2020 debut, "Can't Explain This Kind of Crazy." Nick Schupak, the multi-instrumentalist frontman of New York's The Motor Tom, offers tracks like "Laura", "What Did Mama Tell You?", and "You Can Call Me Alex" on the new album as quick-hitting catchy rock songs that are in direct inverting response to the many drifting epics scattered around his freshman release. "Just Maybe" is a sub-3-minute, stripped-bare whisper of a lamentation while while "A Little Love Is All Ya Need..." is an absolute rip-roaring guitar-riff-driven banger. And while "Leaving On the Next Train to Boston" and "Useless To Resist" exist as down-tempo, electronic-first songs with soaring choruses bursting with layers of harmony, "A Change Will Do Me Good" and "The Stress" balance the aforementioned songs' chilled-out vibes with fast tempos that will make you jump around. "I Just Can't Take It" (a nod to "The Talented Mr. Ripley") and "Slip n Slide" are multi-part rock epics, complemented by short, minimalist album tracks "Purple Noon" (an homage to the 1960 film of the same title) and "ABCDEF." Cheerry's sophomore effort, as corny as it might sound, has it all.
Cheerry Red, indie rock, alternative rock, experimental, art punk, blues, cabaret pop, honky tonk, new album "Radical Lifestyle Change", single ""What Did Mama Tell You?", songwriter / multi-instrumentalist Nick Schupak,
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