Cher gained popularity in 1965 as one-half of the folk rock husband-wife duo Sonny & Cher after their song "I Got You Babe" peaked at number one on the US and UK charts. Together they sold 40 million records worldwide. Her solo career was established during the same time, with the top-ten singles "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)" and "You Better Sit Down Kids". She became a television personality in the 1970s with her CBS shows; first The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour, watched by over 30 million viewers weekly during its three-year run, and then the namesake Cher. She emerged as a fashion trendsetter by wearing elaborate outfits on her television shows.
While working on television, Cher released the US Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles "Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves", "Half-Breed", and "Dark Lady", becoming the female artist with the most number-one singles in United States history at the time. After her divorce from Sonny Bono in 1975, she released the disco album Take Me Home (1979) and earned $300,000 a week for her 1979–1982 concert residency in Las Vegas.
In 1982, Cher made her Broadway debut in the play Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean and starred in its film adaptation. She subsequently garnered critical acclaim for her performances in films such as Silkwood (1983), Mask (1985), The Witches of Eastwick (1987), and Moonstruck (1987), the last of which won her the Academy Award for Best Actress. She then revived her music career by recording the rock-inflected albums Cher (1987), Heart of Stone (1989), and Love Hurts (1991), all of which yielded successful singles such as "I Found Someone", "If I Could Turn Back Time", and "Love and Understanding". Cher contributed to the soundtrack for her next film, Mermaids (1990), which spawned the UK number-one single "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)". She made her directorial debut with a segment in the abortion-themed anthology If These Walls Could Talk (1996).
Cher reached a new commercial peak in 1998 with the dance-pop album Believe, whose title track topped the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1999 and became the biggest-selling single of all time by a female artist in the UK. It features pioneering use of Auto-Tune to distort her vocals, known as the "Cher effect". Her 2002–2005 Living Proof: The Farewell Tour became one of the highest-grossing concert tours of all time, earning $250 million. In 2008, she signed a $60 million deal to headline the Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas for three years. During the 2010s, she landed starring roles in the films Burlesque (2010) and Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018) and released studio albums Closer to the Truth (2013) and Dancing Queen (2018), both of which debuted at number three on the Billboard 200.
Having sold 100 million records, Cher is one of the world's best-selling music artists. Her achievements include a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, an Academy Award, three Golden Globe Awards, the Billboard Icon Award, and awards from the Kennedy Center Honors and the Council of Fashion Designers of America. She is the only artist to date to have a number-one single on a Billboard chart in six consecutive decades, from the 1960s to the 2010s. Aside from music and acting, she is noted for her political views, social media presence, philanthropic endeavors, and social activism, including LGBT rights and HIV/AIDS prevention.
Cher Official Website: https://www.cherfanclub.com
YouTube Channel: https://youtube.com/cher
Hey Joe
Cher Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
With that gun in your hand
I said now
Hey Joe where are you going
With that gun in your hand
Going down to shoot my old lady
'Cause you know
I'm going down to shoot my old lady
'Cause I caught her messing around
With another man
Hey Joe I heard you shot your woman down
Shot her down
Hey I said hey Joe
I heard you shot your woman down
Shot her down to the ground
Yes I did, I shot her
'Cause I caught her messing around town
Hey Joe I heard you shot your woman down
Shot her down
But I said hey Joe
I heard you shot your woman down
Shot her down shot her down
Yes, yes I did, I shot her
'Cause I caught her messing around town
Hey Joe where you gonna run to now
I said, I said hey Joe where you gonna run to now
Where you gonna go
Well jig I'm going down south way down to Mexico way
I said I'm going down south way down to Mexico way
The song "Hey Joe" tells the story of a man named Joe who is about to shoot his old lady because he caught her cheating on him with another man. The lyrics depict Joe's anger and his intent to kill his woman because of her infidelity. The chorus repeats the question "Hey Joe, where are you going with that gun in your hand?" as a kind of warning to Joe, asking him to reconsider his actions.
The second verse is a confirmation that Joe did indeed shoot his woman down, while the third verse repeats the same line. The final verse suggests that Joe is on the run from the law and is heading down to Mexico. The song's lyrics convey a sense of desperation and remorselessness, with Joe's willingness to kill his woman and flee from the consequences of his actions.
Line by Line Meaning
Hey Joe where are you going
Asking Joe where he is planning to go
With that gun in your hand
Noticing that Joe is carrying a gun
I said now
Repeating the question to get Joe's attention
Going down to shoot my old lady
Explaining why Joe has a gun: he wants to shoot his wife
'Cause you know
This is the reason for his behavior
I caught her messing around town
Joe saw his wife with another man and suspects she is cheating
I'm going down to shoot my old lady
Repeating Joe's plan
'Cause I caught her messing around
Explaining the reason for Joe's violent intentions
With another man
Clarifying who Joe saw his wife with
Hey Joe I heard you shot your woman down
Someone is talking to Joe and heard about his violent act
Shot her down
Explaining the result of Joe's actions
Hey I said hey Joe
Repeating the same question to Joe
I heard you shot your woman down
Informing Joe that people are talking about his actions
Shot her down to the ground
Describing how Joe killed his wife
Yes I did, I shot her
Admitting to the crime
'Cause I caught her messing around town
Reiterating the reason for the murder
Hey Joe where you gonna run to now
Asking Joe about his future plans
Where you gonna go
Seeking to know Joe's destination
Well jig I'm going down south way down to Mexico way
Joe reveals his escape plan to go to Mexico
Lyrics © DistroKid
Written by: Billy Roberts
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Veri Luna
"Hey Joe" is an American popular song from the 1960s that has become a rock standard and as such has been performed in many musical styles by hundreds of different artists since it was first written. Diverse credits and claims have led to confusion as to the song's true authorship and genesis.The earliest known commercial recording of the song is the late-1965 single by the Los Angeles garage band the The Leaves.
Lowe Quay Shush
To the naysayers- yes, this recording is f'd up. I love it- gives it a raw charm. (It could have been recorded at K Records in the 90's! Just take out the strings & pump up the gee-tars!)
chase van arsdale
Next to the LEAVES, HEY JOE, which is # 1 in my book----CHER's Version of HEY JOE is # 2 ---not bad since over 1,ooo people recorded HEY JOE!
willminkorea2010
This version is better than many posters are claiming.
Mitt
Her voice sounds so different
Sonja R
I don’t even know where to begin. It sounds as if this song is out of Cher’s vocal range, she’s straining. Her voice doesn’t lend itself to the bluesy, heat , like it lacks gravitas. The arrangement is wanting, it’s lackluster. You can have a low production ‘garagey’ sound, but that is not this. I guess l’m not feelin’ It, ‘cause maybe Cher wasn’t feelin’ it. And it’s not because it’s a female singing it. If you listen to Neila Miller, who wrote and sang the precursor to Hey Joe, Baby, Please Don’t Go To Town, she sounds hauntingly amazing. For me, the best slow version is Hendrix, best fast version, Love.
Raven Row
She started singing that time, its not so bad for her level that time. She improved her voice very much over the time. It sounds also that the recording was done not so good. its louder at some points and your hearing cracks its not a good quality as we know it today
trfesok
The meter is way off on this version. Closer in tempo to songwriter's original. I put that, this and other covers by The Leaves and The Byrds in my Cher playlist. Thanks for the upload!
Andrej Shamin
👍
CLUB1981
@cannubakid love you forever Darren, 2 and a half years ago you left us, still feels like yesterday. I’ll always listen to our songs 💔