Half-Breed (song)

Song information and story

The 1973 version was the first international release from Cher's album Half-Breed, recorded and intended for the American market. Written and performed by non-Natives, it is a classic "Tragic mulatto" narrative, from a non-Native perspective, of a young woman with an Armenian father and an alleged Cherokee mother. The song offers a scenario to which the singer relates that oppressive Whites call her "Indian squaw", and claims that Native Americans do not accept her as one of their own because, "The Indians said I was White by law." The lyrics are in error, as the Cherokee (like most Indigenous peoples of the Eastern Woodlands) are a matrilineal culture, meaning that a child born to a Cherokee mother is accepted as Cherokee, no matter the nationality or ethnicity of the father, and thus the parental ethnicities would have to be reversed—a White mother and native father—for such a situation to arise.

The song is written in the key of A minor, with a moderato tempo of 116 beats per minute in common time. Cher's vocals span the notes of F3-A4.

Reception

In 1973, "Half-Breed" topped the United States Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks, becoming Cher's second solo and third overall Number 1 hit, and second Gold certified solo single for the sales of over 1,000,000 copies. It was a Number 1 hit in Canada and New Zealand, and a Top 10 hit in Australia and Quebec, respectively.

Peter Fawthrop wrote that this song has a jingling rhythm and that it is one of the lighter-hearted songs on the album. Rolling Stone recommended it and described Cher's vocals as frantic and the production as supremely commercial.

Live performances

In 1999, after almost 25 years of not performing the song live, Cher included it in her Do You Believe? Tour. In 2002, she did the song 326 times in her Living Proof: The Farewell Tour. In 2018, she performed it during her Here We Go Again Tour. She sang it in Oceania but it was dropped after the first leg.

Cher performed the song on the following concert tours:

• Do You Believe? Tour (1999–2000)
• The Farewell Tour (2002–2005)
• Cher at the Colosseum (2008–2011)
• Dressed to Kill Tour (2014)
• Classic Cher (2017–2018)
• Here We Go Again Tour (2018)

Music video

The video for "Half-Breed", a 1973 performance on The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour, features stereotypical "Hollywood Indian" imagery. Cher appears on horseback in a Bob Mackie-designed outfit combining elements unrelated to Cherokee culture, including a Plains-style warbonnet, a halter top inspired by a hair pipe breastplate, and a glittery loincloth. The set includes Pacific Northwestern totem poles and flames, also unconnected to Cherokee traditions.

Cher has faced criticism from Native American activists for cultural appropriation, continuing to use similar costumes in performances until 2017. In a 2017 Twitter exchange, she stated she would no longer perform the song or wear the costume. Rolling Stone noted the omission of "Half-Breed" from Cher's 2024 compilation Forever, attributing it to a broader trend of artists reassessing their catalogs in light of changing cultural sensibilities.

Remix version

In 2002, a special remix medley was created by Dan-O-Rama for a video montage that was used in Cher's Living Proof: The Farewell Tour. The medley contains the videos of "All I Really Want to Do", "Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves", "Half-Breed", and "Dark Lady".

Personnel

According to the AFM contract sheet, excluding Cher’s vocals, the following musicians played on the track.

• W.T. Babb - contractor
• Al Capps - session leader
• Hal Blaine
• Al Casey
• Gene Cipriano
• James Getzoff
• Thomas R. Hensley
• Donald Peake
• Emil Richards
• Samuel Boghossian
• John Durrill
• Jesse Ehrlich
• Raymond Kelley
• Lou Klass
• Jacob Krachmalnick
• William Kurasch
• Carl LaMagna
• Gayle Levant
• Leonard Malarsky
• Gordon Marron
• Gareth Nuttycombe
• Reinhold Prass Jr.
• Nathan Ross

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Covers

• German singer Joy Fleming recorded a German-language version titled "Halbblut" ("Half-blood") as a single in 1973. It peaked in the West German charts at Number 38 in February 1974.

References

References

1. Petridis, Alexis. (October 18, 2018). "Cher's 30 greatest songs – ranked!".
2. Hartman, Kent. (2012). "The Wrecking Crew". [[St. Martin's Press.
3. "Item Display – RPM – Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca.
4. (March 9, 1974). "Cash Box". Cash Box Magazine.
5. Perdue, Theda. (1999). "Cherokee women: gender and culture change, 1700–1835". University of Nebraska Press.
6. (18 August 2014). "Half-Breed".
7. [http://www.allmusic.com/album/half-breed-mw0001155426 Review by P. Fawthrop of Allmusic] Retrieved 14 October 2013
8. [https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/half-breed-19740214 Review by Paul Gambaccini of ''Rolling Stone''] Retrieved October 14, 2013
9. Penny Cousineau-Levine. (Spring 2017). "Cher's "Half-Breed" and the Hybrid Masquerades of Kent Monkman's Miss Chief Testickle". AMERICANA e-Journal of American Studies in Hungary.
10. Ferguson, Dean. (March 25, 2023). "'Half-Breed': Cher and the Problem of Cultural Appropriation".
11. (December 31, 2017). "Cher Refuses To Apologize For 'Half-Breed' After Twitter War Fuelled By Trump's Diversity Coalition Appointee". [[Entertainment Tonight Canada]].
12. (February 23, 2013). "Half Breed (Official Music Video)".
13. Cher. (Dec 22, 2017). "Cher tweets about Half-Breed".
14. Cher. (Dec 29, 2017). "Cher tweets about Half-Breed some more".
15. Browne, David. (September 1, 2024). "'Half-Breed' and 'Brown Sugar' Vanished: Why Classic Artists Are Censoring Themselves".
16. "Half-Breed AFM Contract". [[American Federation of Musicians]].
17. Kent, David. (1993). "Australian Chart Book 1970–1992". Australian Chart Book.
18. (17 July 2013). "Image : RPM Weekly".
19. "Palmarès de la chanson anglophone et allophone au Québec". [[Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec.
20. Fernando Salaverri. (September 2005). "Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002". Fundación Autor-SGAE.
21. "Cash Box Top Singles - 1973".
22. [http://australian-charts.com/forum.asp?todo=viewthread&id=40275 Australian-charts.com]
23. [http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?brws_s=1&file_num=nlc008388.100214&type=2&interval=24&PHPSESSID=dtlhqtcdftn9t40n27r4hds2h0 ''RPM'' chart archives at Collections Canada for the Cher single ''Half-Breed''.]
24. "Billboard Top 100 - 1973".
25. "Billboard Year-End Charts 1973".
26. "Joy Fleming: Halbblut (single)".