"If I Could Turn Back Time" | ||||
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Single by Cher | ||||
from the album Heart of Stone | ||||
B-side | "Some Guys" | |||
Released | June 20, 1989 [1] | |||
Studio | Criterion Studios (Los Angeles, California) | |||
Genre | ||||
Length |
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Label | Geffen | |||
Songwriter(s) | Diane Warren | |||
Producer(s) |
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Cher singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"If I Could Turn Back Time" on YouTube |
"If I Could Turn Back Time" is a song performed by American singer and actress Cher from her nineteenth studio album, Heart of Stone . It was released as the album's lead single in June 1989, by Geffen Records. The song was written specifically for Cher by Diane Warren, who produced it in collaboration with Guy Roche. Cher was unmoved by a demo of the song sung by Warren, but Roche insisted she record it. The lyrics talk about the feelings of remorse due to bad deeds and the willingness to reverse time to make things right.
"If I Could Turn Back Time" is a pop rock and soft rock song that features instrumentation from guitars, piano and drums. The song received mostly positive reviews from music critics, who applauded its overall production and Cher's vocal performance, with some considering it to be a highlight of the album. Commercially, the song peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 and became Cher's first number-one hit in Australia. It also reached the top 10 of the record charts in Belgium, Canada, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.
The accompanying music video for "If I Could Turn Back Time", directed by Marty Callner, was shot on board of the battleship USS Missouri and portrays Cher performing for the ship's crew, wearing a leather thong that revealed her tattooed buttocks and straddling a cannon. Military personnel condemned the video, while some family groups protested against its broadcast, because they deemed it offensive for the Navy and controversial. Following these protests, MTV was forced to air the video after the 9pm watershed.
"If I Could Turn Back Time" has been performed on seven of Cher's concert tours, most recently on the Here We Go Again Tour in 2018–2020, and at the 1989 MTV Video Music Awards. The song has been covered by a number of artists and has also been featured on the soundtrack of Deadpool 2 (2018), among others.
The song was written by Diane Warren, who produced the song along with Guy Roche. [2] While the soft rock track was specifically written for Cher, the singer initially disliked the song upon hearing a demo and turned it down. Warren claimed in 1991: "I got on my knees and pleaded. I told her I wasn't going to leave the room until she said yes, and finally, just to get rid of me, she did." [3] In 2014, she further added: "She really hated [it], but I held her leg down during a session and said, 'You have to record it!'" According to Warren, Cher reportedly responded: "'Fuck you, bitch! You're hurting my leg! OK, I'll try it.' Once Cher sang it, she gave me this look like, 'You were right'." [4]
Gary Hill of AllMusic retrospectively wrote that the song "has a crunchy texture to it, albeit in a poppy, '80s Starship sort of arrangement." [5] The Daily Vault's Mark Millan noted it as a "soft-rock anthem". [6] Music & Media described it as "a well-produced FM sing-along." [7]
The music video for "If I Could Turn Back Time", directed by American television director Marty Callner, takes place on board the battleship USS Missouri. It depicts Cher and her band performing a concert for a couple hundred of the ship's enthusiastic crew in white ceremonial dress uniform. [8] [9] The video was filmed in Los Angeles in the middle of the night around Friday June 30, 1989, while the ship was stationed at the former Long Beach Naval Shipyard at Pier D. In the video, the band plays under the main guns on the foredeck, and the ship is rigged with spotlights, light racks and strobes. Cher's son, Elijah Blue Allman, 12 at the time, appears as one of the band's guitarists wearing dark glasses and a Jimi Hendrix T-shirt.
The Department of the Navy had granted permission for the music video shoot because of its potential for boosting Navy recruitment; [8] [10] at the time (1989) the Navy did not have a budget for TV ads. The Navy initially selected the battleship USS New Jersey for the video. However, New Jersey was out to sea when Callner needed to do an initial site survey, so he toured her sister ship, Missouri, instead. During Callner's visit, Missouri's public affairs officer, Lieutenant Mark Walker, convinced him to change the filming location to Missouri. [11]
Cher's Bob Mackie-designed [12] outfit for the original video, a fishnet body stocking under a black one-piece bathing suit that left most of her buttocks (and a tattoo of a butterfly) exposed, proved controversial, and many television networks refused to show the video. [13] [14] MTV first banned the video, and later played it only after 9 PM. [10] A second version of the video was made, including new scenes and less overtly sexual content than the original. The outfit and risque nature of the video were a complete surprise to the Navy, who expected Cher to wear a jumpsuit for the concert, as presented on storyboards during original discussions with producers. The sailors were already in place and the band had begun playing when Cher emerged in her outfit. [11] Lieutenant Commander Steve Honda from the Navy's Hollywood Liaison office requested Callner briefly suspend shooting and convince Cher to change into more conservative attire, but Callner refused.
The Navy received criticism for allowing the video shoot, [8] especially from World War II veterans who saw it as a desecration of a national historic site that should be treated with reverence: USS Missouri was the site of the Empire of Japan's surrender on September 2, 1945, thus ending World War II. [9]
No Navy officials were disciplined for their role in supporting the video, although reportedly the Secretary of the Navy briefly considered firing the captain of USS Missouri. [11] Other parts of the Navy commended the event. [8] [9]
The video appeared on a "Sexiest Music Videos of All Time" list by Rolling Stone magazine. [15]
In 2003, Cher released her Living Proof: Farewell Tour concert on DVD which included an official "If I Could Turn Back Time" remix video.
Cher performed the song on the following concert tours:
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [47] | 2× Platinum | 140,000^ |
Denmark (IFPI Danmark) [48] | Gold | 45,000‡ |
New Zealand (RMNZ) [49] digital | Platinum | 30,000‡ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [50] sales since 2004 | Platinum | 600,000‡ |
United States (RIAA) [1] | Gold | 500,000^ |
United States digital | — | 394,000 [51] |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
The song is featured in a post-credit scene in the 2018 film Deadpool 2 , on which the titular character goes on a time traveling spree to change events of the past, such as averting the deaths of Vanessa and X-Force member Peter, and killing his counterpart from X-Men Origins: Wolverine and actor Ryan Reynolds.
In the film Walking on Sunshine , there is a version of this song performed by the protagonists Taylor (Hannah Arterton) and Raf (Giulio Berruti).
The song was used in the 2019 commercial for Luminess Silk Foundation makeup products. [52]
Cher is an American singer, actress and television personality. Dubbed the "Goddess of Pop", she is known for her androgynous contralto voice, multifaceted career and bold visual presentation, while cultivating a screen persona that mirrors her public image by often portraying strong-willed, independent and outspoken women. Her adaptability has fueled multiple comebacks, cementing her status as a cultural icon. She is the only solo artist with Billboard number-one singles in seven consecutive decades, from the 1960s to the 2020s. Her accolades include an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a Grammy Award, three Golden Globe Awards, the Billboard Icon Award, the Kennedy Center Honor and an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Cher is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with estimated sales of over 100 million records worldwide.
Diane Eve Warren is an American songwriter. She has won an Academy Honorary Award, Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, two Golden Globe Awards and three consecutive Billboard Music Awards for Songwriter of the Year from 1997 to 1999. She first gained recognition for her work on DeBarge's 1985 single "Rhythm of the Night". By the late 1980s, she joined the record label EMI, where she became the first songwriter in the history of Billboard magazine to have written seven hit songs, each recorded by different artists, prompting EMI's UK Chairman Peter Reichardt to call her "the most important songwriter in the world".
Heart of Stone is the nineteenth studio album by American singer-actress Cher, released on July 10, 1989 by Geffen Records. As of January 1991, the album had sold more than 4 million copies worldwide. The album was supported by Cher's 1989–1990 Heart of Stone Tour.
The Very Best of Cher is the eighth compilation album by American singer-actress Cher, released on April 1, 2003. The album includes many of Cher's most popular songs, such as "If I Could Turn Back Time", "Believe", "Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves" and "Take Me Home". It debuted at number seven on the Billboard 200 albums chart and later reached number four on the issue date of May 17. As of November 2011, the album has sold 2.8 million copies in the United States.
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"I Got You Babe" is a song performed by American pop and entertainment duo Sonny & Cher and written by Sonny Bono. It was the first single taken from their debut studio album, Look at Us (1965). In August 1965, the single spent three weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States where it sold more than one million copies and was certified Gold by the RIAA. It also reached number one in the United Kingdom and Canada.
"Crazy" is a song by American hard rock band Aerosmith and written by Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, and Desmond Child. It was the fifth single from their 1993 album Get a Grip, released in May 1994 by Geffen Records. "Crazy" peaked at number 17 on the US Billboard Hot 100, number three in Canada, and number one in Iceland for two weeks. In Finland and the United Kingdom, it was released as a double-A side with "Blind Man", reaching number eight in the former country and number 23 in the latter. Marty Callner directed the song's music video, featuring Liv Tyler and Alicia Silverstone.
"Just Like Jesse James" is a song recorded by American singer and actress Cher for her nineteenth album Heart of Stone (1989). It was released as the third North American and second European single in October 1989, by Geffen Records. The song was written by Desmond Child and Diane Warren, and produced by Child. It was a December 1989 top-ten hit. The song's title is a reference to legendary Wild West bandit Jesse James. The title phrase previously appeared in Linda Ronstadt's hit “Poor Poor Pitiful Me”.
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"Save Up All Your Tears" is a song written by Desmond Child and Diane Warren, and originally released by Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler. The song was subsequently covered by other artists including Robin Beck, Cher, Freda Payne and Bonfire.
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"It's in His Kiss" is a song written and composed by Rudy Clark. It was first released as a single in 1963 by Merry Clayton that did not chart. The song was made a hit a year later when recorded by Betty Everett, who hit No. 1 on the Cashbox magazine R&B charts with it in 1964. Recorded by dozens of artists and groups around the world in the decades since, the song became an international hit once again when covered by Cher in 1990.
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