"You Better Sit Down Kids" is a major hit single 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 ...

in 1967 from her fourth studio album '' With Love, Chér'', released in November 1967 by

Imperial Records Imperial Records is an American record company and label started in 1947 by Lew Chudd. The label was reactivated in 2006 by EMI, which owned the label and back catalogue at the time. Imperial is owned by Universal Music Group. Early years to ...

. The song was written by her then-husband

Sonny Bono Salvatore Phillip "Sonny" Bono (; February 16, 1935 – January 5, 1998) was an American singer, actor, and politician who came to fame in partnership with his second wife Cher as the popular singing duo Sonny & Cher. A member of the Republica ...

. 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 Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

'' (2005). The song was well received by music critics. It peaked at number nine on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming Cher's second top ten single after "

Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)" is the second single by American singer-actress Cher from her second album, ''The Sonny Side of Chér''. It was written by her husband Sonny Bono and released in 1966. The song reached No. 3 in the UK Singles C ...

". “You Better Sit Down Kids” became a top 20 hit in Canada peaking at number twelve. It was covered by

Roy Drusky Roy Frank Drusky, Jr. (June 22, 1930 – September 23, 2004) was an American country music singer, songwriter, producer, actor and disc jockey popular from the 1960s through the early 1970s. Known for his baritone voice, he was known for incor ...

Liza Minnelli Liza May Minnelli ( ; born March 12, 1946) is an American actress, singer, dancer, and choreographer. Known for her commanding stage presence and powerful alto singing voice, Minnelli is among a rare group of performers awarded an Emmy, Grammy ...

Glen Campbell Glen Travis Campbell (April 22, 1936 – August 8, 2017) was an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, actor and television host. He was best known for a series of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and for hosting ''The Glen Campbell Goodt ...

and Bono himself on '' All I Ever Need Is You'' (1971).

Background

The year of 1967 was full for

Sonny & Cher Sonny & Cher were an American pop and entertainment duo in the 1960s and 1970s, made up of husband and wife Sonny Bono and Cher. The couple started their career in the mid-1960s as R&B backing singers for record producer Phil Spector. The pair f ...

. They released their third studio album '' In Case You're in Love'' in March which yielded the U.S. top ten single " The Beat Goes On" and the U.K. top five single " Little Man". In April, they promoted the musical comedy ''

Good Times ''Good Times'' is an American television sitcom that aired for six seasons on CBS, from February 8, 1974, to August 1, 1979. Created by Eric Monte and Mike Evans and developed by executive producer Norman Lear, it was television's first African ...

'' along with its

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

. Both of them were commercial failures. During the fall of 1967, they also released the compilation albums '' The Best of Sonny & Chér'' and '' Sonny & Cher's Greatest Hits''. In November 1967, "You Better Sit Down Kids" was released as a single alongside '' With Love, Chér''. Cher later recorded an Italian version of the song titled "Bambini Miei Cari (Sedetevi Attorno)".

Composition

Though a woman, Cher recorded the song without changing its explicitly masculine perspective. Like her other solo hits "

" and " Where Do You Go", this song was written by Bono. The lyrics are from the perspective of a father informing his children that he and their mother are separating. The song starts slow, then, after a few stanzas, a fast bridge section has the father giving some orders to the kids, including to "Say your prayers before you go to bed, and be sure to get to school on time". The song starts in the key of B, and goes up a half step on each stanza, except during the Bridge section, which is in the key of B-Flat. The last stanza and the Coda are done in the key of F.

Reception

Mark Bego, author of ''Cher: If You Believe'', praised Cher's performance on "You Better Sit Down Kids", saying that "she turned it into a soap-opera storytelling, at which she vocally excelled". Joe Viglione from

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 ...

also wrote a favorable review of the song, calling it "the moment in the sun" of the album and describing it as a "tremendous performance". A ''Billboard'' article listing Cher's biggest songs, ranked the "You Better Sit Down Kids" as the seventeenth. "You Better Sit Down Kids" debuted on the

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

chart dated October 28, 1967 at number 79. The song eventually peaked at number nine on the chart dated December 23, becoming Cher's second solo top ten song after "

" a year earlier. In Canada, the song entered the ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

'' at number 78 on the chart dated November 4, 1967. It then reached number twelve. "You Better Sit Down Kids" appeared on the 1967 year-end chart at number sixty.

Cover versions

Many artists covered "You Better Sit Down Kids" shortly after its release. In 1968,

brought the song to country music audiences. His version peaked at number 28, spending 10 weeks on the Billboard country chart. The same year,

covered the song on her

self-titled An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

studio album released by A&M Records.

covered the song on his twelfth album ''

Wichita Lineman "Wichita Lineman" is a song written by the American songwriter Jimmy Webb in 1968. It was first recorded by the American country music artist Glen Campbell with backing from members of The Wrecking Crew and was widely covered by other artists. ...

'', released by

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

. The jazz group The Raymonde Singers Etcetera included the song on their album "Feelin'".

Gary Puckett & The Union Gap Gary Puckett & The Union Gap (initially credited as The Union Gap featuring Gary Puckett) was an American pop rock group active in the late 1960s. The group, formed by Gary Puckett, Gary "Mutha" Withem, Dwight Bement, Kerry Chater and Paul Wheat ...

also released a version of the song on their 1968 album, ''

Woman, Woman "Woman, Woman" is the debut single by Gary Puckett & The Union Gap, from their 1968 debut album '' Woman, Woman''. It was written and composed by Jim Glaser and Jimmy Payne, and uses session musicians from The Wrecking Crew. Like most of the band ...

''. Later, Sonny Bono himself recorded a solo version on their 1971 album '' All I Ever Need Is You''.

Track listing and formats

*International 7" single **A "You Better Sit Down Kids" – 3:42 **B "Elusive Butterfly" – 2:30 *Spanish 7" single **A "You Better Sit Down Kids" – 3:42 **B "Hey Joe" – 2:40

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Notes

References

* * {{Authority control 1967 singles Songs written by Sonny Bono Cher songs Roy Drusky songs Glen Campbell songs Gary Puckett & The Union Gap songs 1967 songs Imperial Records singles Songs about children Songs about parenthood Songs about divorce