"Dark Lady" is a

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

song recorded by American singer-actress

Cher Cher (; born Cherilyn Sarkisian; May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Often referred to by the media as the Honorific nicknames in popular music, "Goddess of Pop", she has been described as embodying female ...

, and the title selection from her eleventh studio album, '' Dark Lady''. Written and composed by John Robert "Johnny" Durrill and produced by

Snuff Garrett Thomas Lesslie Garrett (July 5, 1938 – December 16, 2015) known as Snuff Garrett or Tommy Garrett, was an American record producer whose most famous work was during the 1960s and 1970s. Early years Garrett was born in Dallas, Texas, United ...

, it was released as the album's first single in early 1974. The song became Cher's third solo

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

#1 hit on March 22, 1974.

Song information and story

The song was written and composed by

The Ventures The Ventures are an American instrumental rock band formed in Tacoma, Washington, in 1958, by Don Wilson and Bob Bogle. The band, which was a quartet for most of its existence, helped to popularize the electric guitar across the world during the ...

' keyboard player, Johnny Durrill. He recalled: "I spent a week in his (Snuff Garrett's) office playing him songs, one of which Cher recorded. Later, when I was on tour in Japan with the Ventures, I was writing an interesting song. I telegraphed the unfinished lyrics to Garrett. He said to 'make sure the bitch kills him.' Hence, in the song both the lover and fortune teller were killed." Thus, "Dark Lady" may with some accuracy be described as a

murder ballad Murder ballads are a subgenre of the traditional ballad form dealing with a crime or a gruesome death. Their lyrics form a narrative describing the events of a murder, often including the lead-up and/or aftermath. The term refers to the content ...

, even though the narrator of its lyrics essentially commits a

crime of passion A crime of passion (French: ''crime passionnel''), in popular usage, refers to a violent crime, especially homicide, in which the perpetrator commits the act against someone because of sudden strong impulse such as anger rather than as a premed ...

. The critic Peter Fawthrop, writing for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

, called this song a "grimly comedic folk song." The "Dark Lady" of the song's title is a

gypsy The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...

fortune teller Fortune telling is the practice of predicting information about a person's life. Melton, J. Gordon. (2008). ''The Encyclopedia of Religious Phenomena''. Visible Ink Press. pp. 115-116. The scope of fortune telling is in principle identical w ...

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

with an implied history of sleeping with clients (the narrator of the song describes seeing scratches on the inside of the fortune teller's

limousine A limousine ( or ), or limo () for short, is a large, chauffeur-driven luxury vehicle with a partition between the driver compartment and the passenger compartment. A very long wheelbase luxury sedan (with more than four doors) driven by a prof ...

from her previous conquests). The narrator follows the fortune teller's limousine to her lair and pays money for a fortune; as a result of the fortune, she learns that her lover has been unfaithful to her with, as the (audibly uncomfortable) fortune teller says, "someone else who is very close to you." Advised to leave the fortune teller's shop, never to return, and to forget she has ever seen the fortune teller's face, the narrator returns home in a state of shock, unable to sleep. But then she realizes to her horror that she had once smelled, in her own room, the very

perfume Perfume (, ; french: parfum) is a mixture of fragrant essential oils or aroma compounds (fragrances), fixatives and solvents, usually in liquid form, used to give the human body, animals, food, objects, and living-spaces an agreeable scent. Th ...

that the fortune teller had been wearing. Sneaking back to the fortune teller's shop with a

gun A gun is a ranged weapon designed to use a shooting tube (gun barrel) to launch projectiles. The projectiles are typically solid, but can also be pressurized liquid (e.g. in water guns/cannons, spray guns for painting or pressure washing, pr ...

, she there catches her lover and the fortune teller "laughing and kissing," and shoots them both to death, presumably in a fit of rage; the song implies she blacked out upon shooting. ("Next thing I knew, they were dead on the floor.") In 1974, "Dark Lady" topped the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for one week, becoming Cher's third solo #1 hit. The song became a top 10 hit in Norway and a top 20 hit in the Netherlands. Like "

Half-Breed Half-breed is a term, now considered offensive, used to describe anyone who is of mixed race; although, in the United States, it usually refers to people who are half Native American and half European/white. Use by governments United States In ...

," the song struggled in West Germany and the UK, though it managed to reach top 40 status in the UK.

Music video

There are two versions of the video. The first version of the video is a live performance that was aired in the third season of ''

The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour ''The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour'' was an American variety show that starred American pop singers Sonny Bono and Cher, who were married to each other at the time. The show ran on CBS in the United States, and premiered in August 1971. The show was ...

'' in 1973. In this performance Cher was dressed all in black and was wearing a black veil on her head. The second version of the video is an animated

cartoon A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved over time, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of images ...

done by

John David Wilson John David Wilson (8 August 1919 – 20 June 2013) was an English artist, animator and producer. He owned his own production studio, Fine Arts Films. Early years Wilson was born on 8 August 1919 in Wimbledon, England. He was educated at the ...

's animation studio; this second video follows the whole story of the song. In 2002, a special remix medley was created by Dan-O-Rama for a video montage that was used in Cher's Living Proof: The Farewell Tour. The medley contains videos of "

All I Really Want to Do "All I Really Want to Do" is a song written by Bob Dylan and featured on his Tom Wilson- produced 1964 album, ''Another Side of Bob Dylan''. It is arguably one of the most popular songs that Dylan wrote in the period immediately after he abandon ...

", " Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves", "

", and "Dark Lady". Unlike the other videos, "Dark Lady" was unique because both the live-action and the animated videos had been mixed. In 1999, Cher performed this song throughout her

Do You Believe? Tour Do You Believe?, also known as the Believe Tour, Cher Live in Concert DVD was the fourth solo concert tour by American singer-actress Cher. The tour, which took place in 1999 and 2000, promoted her album, ''Believe.'' History The tour began on ...

, for the first time in twenty-five years. In 2002, she performed the song 325 times in her Living Proof: The Farewell Tour. Cher performed the song on the following concert tours/Las Vegas residencies: *

* The Farewell Tour *

Cher at the Colosseum Cher was the second concert residency by American singer-actress Cher at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada, Las Vegas, Nevada. For the three-year engagement, Cher received $60 million. Performing at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace, the first sho ...

* Dressed to Kill Tour *

Classic Cher Classic Cher was the third concert residency by American singer-actress Cher. The show is performed in Las Vegas, Oxon Hill, and Atlantic City. Set list This set list is representative for the opening concert on February 8, 2017. #" Woman's W ...

Here We Go Again Tour The Here We Go Again Tour was the seventh solo concert tour by American singer-actress Cher in support of her twenty-sixth studio album ''Dancing Queen''. This was the first time the singer had embarked on a world tour since her Living Proof: T ...

(Oceanian leg only)

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Formats and track listing

;UK and US 7" #"Dark Lady" – 3:26 #"Two People Clinging to a Thread" – 2:40 ;Argentina 7" #"Dark Lady" – 3:26 #"Carousel Man" – 3:02 ;Not Released #"Dark Lady" (Mixmaster F Farewell Club Mix) (a.k.a. White Label Remix) – 7:25

Credits and personnel

*Cher –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

*John "Johnny" Durrell – lyrics *Snuff Garrett – producer *

Ronnie Aldrich Ronald Frank Aldrich (15 February 1916 – 30 September 1993) was a British easy listening and jazz pianist, arranger, conductor and composer. Early life He was born Ronald Frank Aldrich on 15 February 1916 in Erith, England, the only son o ...

*D. Redston *R. Williams *Longines Symphone *Magnetronics

Cover versions

In 1974

Lea Laven Lea Laven (née Luukinen; after that Marjanen, Forssell and Tulonen; born 19 June 1948, Haukipudas) is a Finland, Finnish pop singer. Laven grew up in meager circumstances in the small town of Haukipudas: she began singing in shows while in sch ...

recorded the Finnish rendering of "Dark Lady" entitled "Tumma nainen". "Tumma nainen" was also recorded by

Ami Aspelund Ami Aspelund (born Anne-Marie Aspelund on 7 September 1953 in Vaasa) is a Finnish singer. She is the younger sister of singer Monica Aspelund. Career Ami Aspelund released her first single in 1973 called "Apinamies", which is a Finnish version ...

for her 1974 album ''Ami'' and also by Jean S. for their 2003 album ''Sammakkoprinssi''. In the same year, Argentinian singer Johnny Tedesco recorded a Spanish version called "Te quiero tanto (Dulce gitana)".

References

External links

Cher - Official Site
* {{authority control 1974 singles Cher songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Number-one singles in Sweden Songs about New Orleans Song recordings produced by Snuff Garrett 1974 songs MCA Records singles Animated music videos American folk songs