Living in a House Divided

"Living in a House Divided"
Single by Cher
from the album Foxy Lady
B-side"One Honest Man"
ReleasedFebruary 1972[1]
Recorded1972
GenrePop
Length2:57
LabelKapp
Songwriter(s)Tom Bahler
Producer(s)Snuff Garrett
Cher singles chronology
"The Way of Love"
(1972) 		"Living in a House Divided"
(1972) 		"Don't Hide Your Love"
(1972)
Alternative cover
Magazine advertisement for the single

"Living in a House Divided" is a song by American entertainer Cher, released as the lead single from her album Foxy Lady. The song's lyrics discuss the separation of a couple, as a rather poignant descriptor of Cher's marriage to then-husband, Sonny. Due to Cher's feelings of resentment over Sonny's control of both her life and her career, their marriage soured. They divorced two years after this song became a hit.

The record peaked at number 22 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 2 on the Adult Contemporary chart.[2] It reached number 21 on the Cash Box chart. "Living in a House Divided" was a Top 20 hit in Canada. The song did, however, fail to reach the success of "Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves", despite the fact that this was also the first single to be lifted from a Cher album.

"Living in a House Divided" closely parallels "I've Lost You", a Top 40 hit describing the break-up of yet another supercouple, Elvis and Priscilla Presley. The couples were contemporary, both together approximately 10 years, with Sonny and Elvis each being more than 10 years older than their wives. The songs were released less than two years apart, charted similarly, and foretold the struggles that the famous couples were facing.

An Italian version of the song, called Stare Insieme Separati is included in Primo Incontro, the debut album of the Italian singer Marisa Sacchetto.

Allmusic editor Joe Viglione noted that this song stands the test of time.[3]

Chart performance

[edit]
Chart (1972) Peak
position
Australian Singles (Kent Music Report)[4] 61
Canada RPM Top Singles 17
Canada RPM Adult Contemporary[5] 14
Quebec (ADISQ)[6] 42
US Billboard Hot 100[7] 22
US Billboard Easy Listening[8] 2
US Cash Box Top 100 21

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Billboard® • Newspaper ("General News") (p. 10)" (PDF). Billboard. Retrieved July 5, 2024.
  2. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 54.
  3. ^ Review by Joe Viglione of Allmusic Retrieved 18 October 2013
  4. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 61. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  5. ^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 2016-10-07.
  6. ^ "Palmarès de la chanson anglophone et allophone au Québec" (in French). BAnQ. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
  7. ^ "Cher". Billboard. Retrieved 2022-07-08.
  8. ^ "Cher". Billboard. Retrieved 2022-07-08.
[edit]


Stub icon

This 1970s pop song–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Living_in_a_House_Divided&oldid=1232791895"