"You Better Sit Down Kids'" is a major hit single release by American singer/actress Cher in 1967 from her fourth studio album With Love, Chér, released on November 1967 by Imperial Records. The song was written by her then-husband, Sonny Bono, and reached number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 12 in Canada.[1]
| "You Better Sit Down Kids" | |
|---|---|
| Song | |
| B-side | "Mama (When My Dollies Have Babies)" alternate "Elusive Butterfly" |
Song information
Though a woman, Cher recorded the song without changing its explicitly masculine perspective. Like her other solo hits "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)" and "Where Do You Go", this song was written by Bono. It became Cher's second solo top ten of the decade. Along with the Sonny & Cher hit "The Beat Goes On," this was a temporary comeback to the U.S. top ten for Cher. Neither she nor the duo would reach those heights again until 1971.
Toward the end of Sonny & Cher touring together, Sonny Bono performed You Better Sit Down Kids live in 1973. A studio version with Sonny on lead vocals appeared on "All I Ever Need: The Kapp/MCA Anthology", a 1996 compilation album released by MCA label.[2]
Composition
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.
Critical reception
Allmusic reviewer wrote a favorable review of the single, calling it "the moment in the sun" of the album, describing it as a "tremendous performance".[3]
Chart performance
"You Better Sit Down Kids" debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 chart dated October 28, 1967 at number 79.[4] The song eventually peaked at number nine on the chart dated December 23, becoming Cher's second solo top ten song after "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)" a year earlier.
Cover versions
- Singer Roy Drusky brought the song to country music audiences in 1968. His version peaked at #28, spending 10 weeks on the Billboard country chart.[5]
- American singer-actress Liza Minnelli covered "You Better Sit Down Kids" on her self-titled first studio album for A&M Records, released on February 9, 1968, which contains the covers of pop/rock and singer/songwriters songs.
- American singer-guitarist Glen Campbell covered the song on his 12th album Wichita Lineman, released in 1968 by Capitol Records.[6]
- The song is included on the 1968 album "Feelin'" by a jazz group "The Raymonde Singers Etcetera".[7]
- Gary Puckett & The Union Gap also released a version of the song on their 1968 album, Woman, Woman.[8]
- The song was covered by a British pop singer Julie Rogers, it was track 1 on the flipside of Julie's 1971 Maxi Single with "Where Do You Go' on the A Side.
- Jim Babjak and Dennis Diken (as "What Else") covered the song on a tribute album to Sonny Bono on a 1991 album "Bonograph (Sonny Gets His Share)".[9]
Charts
Weekly charts
References
External links
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