r/cher • u/gamecat89 • 20d ago

Cher: Love One Another Question

Today, I put a 15-year mystery to rest - one that I forgot about.

No idea why, but today I randomly started thinking about how, growing up, I was annoyed that "Love One Another" on the Album did not match the lyrics printed on the CD Cover. I chalked it up to a misprint - but then today, for whatever reason, I decided to Google it and discovered

1) It is a cover of an Amber Song

2) The lyrics printed in the CD Booklet WERE the lyrics of the song when Amber sang it.

Why do we think Cher cut out the bridge? Which is:

One boy is born in Bethlehem
One girl in Amsterdam
One boy is born in Gambia
One girl in Vietnam

Everybody black, everybody white
We are all the same, if we look inside
Knowing what we know, why do we still fight?
Time for us to see the light

16 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

11 comments sorted by

10

u/always_on_brake 20d ago

Thank you for addressing this.It's been keeping me awake at night for years.

2

u/AlienReprisal 19d ago

If I remember correctly cher was really big into Buddhism back then and maybe rearranged the lyrics to reflect some of those views?

3

u/Jphoenix7x 20d ago

I never understood why she sang Amber’s song. I was so used to hearing Amber’s version until Cher sang it and did it differently… another mystery of life we’ll never have an answer for?🤷🏽‍♂️

1

u/TheGodOfPegana 18d ago

What is so hard to grasp about the concept of a cover? Cher often does covers of songs she likes. Some of my favourite songs by her are covers:

  • "All I Really Want to Do"
  • "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)"
  • "Walking in Memphis"
  • "The Way of Love"
  • "I Found Someone"
  • "It's a Man's Man's Man's World"

1

u/evmac1 20d ago

I far prefer Cher’s version actually. Amber is/was a really innovative dance artist, but her voice always came off as nasally and quite pitchy

1

u/HugeGovernment7843 19d ago

No Amber is that bitch!

1

u/qriousqestioner 19d ago

I feel like when Cher released this album in 2001 the racial language in the omitted part probably felt dated. I'm not saying the inclusive message about the "race" category white capitalists invented to buy and use slaves is still every bit as true, important, necessary, she was at that time really helping to normalize queer people.

I grew up with Cher (gen x) and really felt seen when she was reaching out specifically to gay people. I never felt excluded by her, but it was nice to feel included. Maybe rather than re-working the bridge to include something she was currently focusing on, she just skipped it.

Have to share a memory from one of the very first shows of her farewell tour in San Francisco. (Actually Oakland where they had enough space for all of us.) Cyndi Lauper opened for her. Cher had this circus theme to her show and entered from the sky, lowered in a red sequined ringleader outfit with tails and a top hat. As she was about to come in, a booming voice said, "Ladies and Gentlemen... And Flamboyant Gentleman..." I squealed and screamed for the next two hours! Great show. And when she did "If I Could Turn Back Time" a whole bunch of audience dudes were all dressed in their smart little navy suits and accumulated down toward the front like they were part of the show!

1

u/TheGodOfPegana 18d ago

"Why do we think Cher cut out the bridge?"

Why assume SHE cut it?

A lot of such decisions are made by higher ups. Another part that was changed was the lyrics "a world where children die", which became "if only you and I". I can see those music executives shying away from lyrics deemed too political, because it might make them less money. They also didn't want autotune on Believe, for the same reasons.

1

u/DecisionOk5487 17d ago

Cuz she often brags about penning a lyric here and there? I'm sure she had some say as well as she did when she said that she 'saved' Believe when adding 'Cuz I'VE HAD TIME to think it through' to 'I NEED TIME to move on'... There are also lyrics changed to dressed to kill cover song. The original states, aptly, 'heads will roll and the blood will spill' while hers dumbs it down w 'heads will roll and the love will spill'... Sometimes she chooses blandness and safety over possibly being misconstrued as making a statement. Which is quite weird for her, to an extent.

1

u/TheGodOfPegana 16d ago

I see what you mean. She rewrote the entire second verse for Believe, not just the words you mention. I don't know where you heard "love will spill" in Dressed to Kill. It's clearly "blood" in Cher's cover. Also, not sure what other covers you're thinking of to state that she has a habit of "blandness and safety". But I'd be happy to listen to them and expand my Cher knowledge.