Cher has enjoyed an incredible career, spanning decades of success in the pop music world. But she hasn’t always maintained a steady trajectory upward. Like many stars with such long careers, she’s endured some rough patches.
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“Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves” helped lift her out of one of those slumps in a massive way. It jump-started her second wave of pop success, what we might call her story-song era.
New Decade, New Start
Whether on her own or as a combo with her husband, Sonny Bono, Cher’s music career boomed in the mid-60s. From 1964 to 1967, she enjoyed a hot streak of hit singles that stood tall against any artist, male or female, of that era.
But Cher couldn’t sustain that momentum into the latter half of the decade. As rock music got heavier, many fans of the era turned away from the lighter pop that tended to be her stock and trade. As she entered the 1970s, her music career was sputtering.
Things started changing when she and Bono signed on to star in a new television variety show, which premiered in August 1971. A month later, she released her first single in more than two years. Bob Stone wrote it, and Snuff Garrett, replacing Bono, produced it. That single was “Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves”.
“Tramps” Like Us
“Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves” represented a bit of a bold swing by Cher. The song told the story of a young woman who grew up in a Romani family, people who were pejoratively called gypsies. She endures a traumatic childhood, as well as major persecution from local people at every stop that the traveling caravan makes.
Cher is not a Romani herself. But this was an era in music history when such concerns were largely overlooked. Garrett put together a colorful arrangement, played to the hilt by a group of Wrecking Crew session aces. To her credit, Cher, who allegedly never liked the song all that much, inhabited the character like you would expect someone of her actorly skills to do.
The timing of the song being released not long after her popular variety show debuted certainly helped “Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves” to its success. Whatever the case, it reinvigorated her career and earned her a first-ever solo No. 1 single.
Behind the Lyrics of “Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves”
“I was born in the wagon of a travelin’ show,” Cher sings to begin this saga. “My mama used to dance for the money they’d throw.” We find out that her father preaches and sells homespun medicines to feed the family. The chorus points out the hypocrisy of the people who look down on the Romani and yet still rush to see the entertainment they provide.
The song leaves enough details out so that we can fill in the gaps. It’s never spelled out what the narrator does with the older suitor she meets, only to say, “And papa woulda shot him if he knew what he’d done.” We find out later that she’s “in trouble.” The final verse tells the story of the narrator’s daughter, who endures the same rough life that her mother did.
Within a few years, Cher would add more No. 1s with “Half-Breed” and “Dark Lady”, two other songs that tell elaborate stories. “Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves” got there first and helped this legendary artist get back to the peak of the pop world.
Photo by Martina Raddatz/Redferns
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