"Living in a House Divided" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Cher | ||||
from the album Foxy Lady | ||||
B-side | "One Honest Man" | |||
Released | February 1972 [1] | |||
Recorded | 1972 | |||
Genre | Pop | |||
Length | 2:57 | |||
Label | Kapp | |||
Songwriter(s) | Tom Bahler | |||
Producer(s) | Snuff Garrett | |||
Cher singles chronology | ||||
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Alternative cover | ||||
"Living in a House Divided" is a song by American entertainer Cher, released as the lead single from her album Foxy Lady . The song's lyrics discuss the separation of a couple, as a rather poignant descriptor of Cher's marriage to then-husband, Sonny. Due to Cher's feelings of resentment over Sonny's control of both her life and her career, their marriage soured. They divorced two years after this song became a hit.
The record peaked at number 22 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 2 on the Adult Contemporary chart. [2] It reached number 21 on the Cash Box chart. "Living in a House Divided" was a Top 20 hit in Canada. The song did, however, fail to reach the success of "Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves", despite the fact that this was also the first single to be lifted from a Cher album.
"Living in a House Divided" closely parallels "I've Lost You", a Top 40 hit describing the break-up of yet another supercouple, Elvis and Priscilla Presley. The couples were contemporary, both together approximately 10 years, with Sonny and Elvis each being more than 10 years older than their wives. The songs were released less than two years apart, charted similarly, and foretold the struggles that the famous couples were facing.
An Italian version of the song, called Stare Insieme Separati is included in Primo Incontro, the debut album of the Italian singer Marisa Sacchetto.
Allmusic editor Joe Viglione noted that this song stands the test of time. [3]
Chart (1972) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australian Singles (Kent Music Report) [4] | 61 |
Canada RPM Top Singles | 17 |
Canada RPM Adult Contemporary [5] | 14 |
Quebec (ADISQ) [6] | 42 |
US Billboard Hot 100 [7] | 22 |
US Billboard Easy Listening [8] | 2 |
US Cash Box Top 100 | 21 |
Cher is an American singer, actress, and television personality. Often referred to by the media as the "Goddess of Pop", she has been described as embodying female autonomy in a male-dominated industry. She is known for her distinctive contralto singing voice, for having worked in numerous areas of entertainment and for adopting a variety of styles and appearances. Cher rose to fame in 1965 as one half of the folk rock husband-wife duo Sonny & Cher before releasing her first solo top-ten singles "Bang Bang " and "You Better Sit Down Kids". Throughout the 1970s, she scored the US Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles "Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves", "Half-Breed", and "Dark Lady", becoming the female solo artist with the most number-one singles in US history at the time.
Sonny & Cher were an American pop and entertainment duo in the 1960s and 1970s, made up of spouses Sonny Bono and Cher. The couple started their career in the mid-1960s as R&B backing singers for record producer Phil Spector.
All I Really Want to Do is the debut solo studio album by American singer-actress Cher and was released on August 16, 1965, by Imperial Records. The album was produced for Cher by her then husband and singing partner, Sonny Bono, with contributions from arranger Harold Battiste. The album is by-and-large a collection of cover versions but does contain three songs written by Bono. In 1992, All I Really Want to Do and Cher's follow-up solo album, The Sonny Side of Chér, were reissued on one CD by EMI Records. Later, in 1995, EMI released a collection titled The Originals, which included All I Really Want to Do, The Sonny Side of Chér, and Cher's third solo album, Chér. The album was again reissued on one CD with The Sonny Side of Chér by BGO Records in 2005 in the UK only. The original twelve track All I Really Want to Do album has never been issued on Compact Disc on its own. Upon its release, the album was well received by critics and garnered positive reviews.
"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. It also reached number one in the United Kingdom and Canada.
Chér is the self-titled seventh studio album by American singer-actress Cher, released in September 1971 by Kapp Records. For this album, Cher left her husband Sonny Bono to produce the album, and for the first time she collaborated with Snuff Garrett and with Al Capps for the arrangements. The album was retitled after the success of the single of the same name. It received positive reviews from critics, and the RIAA certified it Gold on July 2, 1972. The album was her first and most successful album of the '70s. Two singles were released from the album, "The Way of Love" and "Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves", both reaching the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Foxy Lady is the eighth studio album by American singer-actress Cher, released in July 1972 by Kapp Records. Following the commercial success of the previous album Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves, Cher again collaborated with Snuff Garrett (producer), Al Capp (arrangements) and her then-husband Sonny Bono (co-producer). Foxy Lady was also the second and last record for Kapp. The album was also promoted on Cher's successful The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour show. After its release, it was well received by critics, but unlike her previous effort Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves, had only moderate chart and sales success.
Dark Lady is the eleventh studio album by American singer-actress Cher, released in May 1974 by MCA. Cher again collaborated with Snuff Garrett as a record producer, and with Al Capps for the arrangements. Dark Lady was the third and final studio album for MCA. It was also the last record promoted on her successful The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour show. After its release, the album received positive reviews from critics but, unlike her previous record produced by Garrett, was only moderately successful.
"After All" is a song performed as a duet by American singers Cher and Peter Cetera, released on March 3, 1989 by Geffen Records. It was used as the love theme for the film Chances Are and was nominated for Best Original Song at the Academy Awards 1989. The song was also the first North American single release from Cher's nineteenth album Heart of Stone. The song appears on Peter Cetera's 1997 album You're The Inspiration – A Collection and his 2017 album, The Very Best of Peter Cetera.
"I Found Someone" is the name of a chart single originally written and composed for Laura Branigan by Michael Bolton and Touch keyboardist Mark Mangold. The song was a bigger hit for Cher in 1987, reaching the top 10.
"All I Ever Need Is You" is a popular song written by Jimmy Holiday and Eddie Reeves, and initially recorded by Ray Charles for his 1971 album, Volcanic Action of My Soul. The most well-known version of the song is the hit single by Sonny & Cher which, in 1971, reached No. 7 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, and was their single of greatest chart longevity, spending 15 weeks on that chart. Their album by the same title sold over 500,000 copies reaching RIAA gold status.
"Don't Hide Your Love" is a song released by American singer-actress Cher as the second single released from the album Foxy Lady. The song was written by Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield. It hit number 46 on the Billboard Hot 100, and number 19 on the Adult Contemporary chart.
The discography of American pop rock duo Sonny & Cher consists of five studio albums, eight compilation albums, one soundtrack album, two live albums and twenty-three singles. Sonny and Cher had released three albums and one single which achieved Gold status in the United States: Look At Us, Sonny & Cher Live, All I Ever Need Is You and I Got You babe. In the decade they spent together, Sonny and Cher sold over 40 million records worldwide.
"Don't Pull Your Love" is the debut single by Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds which became a top ten hit single in 1971. The song was written by Brian Potter and Dennis Lambert.
"You Better Sit Down Kids" is a major hit single by American singer/actress Cher in 1967 from her fourth studio album With Love, Chér, released in November 1967 by Imperial Records. The song was written by her then-husband Sonny Bono. Sung from a father's perspective, the lyrics tell the story of a divorce as explained to the couple's children. The song is featured on the compilation albums Cher's Golden Greats (1968), Superpack Vol. 1 (1972) and Gold (2005).
"When the Snow Is on the Roses" is a song that was an adult contemporary hit for Ed Ames in 1967, spending four weeks at #1 on the easy listening chart, but only reached #98 on the Billboard Hot 100. In 1972, a version recorded by Sonny James went to number one on the country charts.
"Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves" is a song by American singer and actress Cher from her 1971 seventh studio album Chér. Kapp Records, a division of MCA Records, released it as the album's lead single on September 1, 1971. The song was written by Bob Stone, and produced by Snuff Garrett. Since Sonny Bono's first attempts at reviving Cher's recording career had been unsuccessful, the record company recruited Garrett as her producer and he chose Stone to write a song specifically for Cher, in order to cater to an adult audience.
"Baby Don't Go" is a song written by Sonny Bono and recorded by Sonny & Cher. It was first released on Reprise Records in 1964 and was a minor regional hit. Subsequently, following the duo's big success with "I Got You Babe" in the summer of 1965, "Baby Don't Go" was re-released by Reprise later that year and became another huge hit for Sonny & Cher, reaching the top ten in the U.S. and doing well in the UK and elsewhere, going as far as reaching number one in Canada.
All I Ever Need Is You is the fourth studio album by American pop duo Sonny & Cher, released in 1972 by Kapp/MCA Records. The album reached number 14 on the Billboard 200 and was certified gold for the sales of 500,000 copies.
"It Keeps Right On a-Hurtin'" is a song written and recorded by Johnny Tillotson, which was a major hit for him in 1962. The song was nominated for a Grammy for Best Country & Western song for 1962 but lost to Burl Ives' Funny Way Of Laughing. It has been recorded by many other artists.
"Memories" is a 1968 song originally recorded by Elvis Presley.