Cher

Featuring: Larry Adler

Songwriter: Dorothy Heyward DuBose Heyward George Gershwin Ira Gershwin

Producer: George Martin

It ain't necessary so
Ah, it ain't necessary so
The things that you're liable
To read in the bible
Ain't necessary so

Now little David was small
But, oh, my
David was small, but, oh, my
He slew Goliath
Who lie down and dieth
David was small, but, oh, my

Jonah, he lived in a whale
Oh, Jonah, he lived in a whale
Man made his home in that fish's abdomen
Jonah, he lived in a whale

Ah, to get into heaven
Don't snap for a seven
Live clean, don't have no faults
I take that gospel whenever it's possible
With a grain of salt

Little Moses was found in a stream
Little Moses was found in a stream
He floated on water
Till ole Pharaoh's daughter
Fished him, she says, from that stream

I said to get into heaven
Don't snap for a seven
I'll live fresh, have no faults
But I get my gospel whenever it's possible
With a tiny hint of salt

Methuselah lived nine hundred years
I said Methuselah lived nine hundred years
Who calls that living
When no gal will give in to no man
That's nine hundred years

'Cause it ain't necessary so
I said it ain't necessary so
Ain't necessary so
I said it ain't necessary so

Cher is an American singer, songwriter, actress, model, fashion designer, television host, comedian, dancer, businesswoman, philanthropist, author, film producer, director, and record producer.

Cher gained popularity in 1965 as one-half of the folk rock husband–wife duo Sonny & Cher after their first hit, “I Got You Babe”. She began her solo career simultaneously, releasing in 1966 her first million-seller song, “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)”. After the duo had lost its young audience owing to their monogamous, anti-drug lifestyle during the period of the sexual revolution and the rise of the drug culture, she returned to stardom in the 1970s as a television personality with her shows The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour, watched by over 30 million viewers weekly during its three-year run, and Cher. She became a fashion trendsetter by wearing elaborate outfits on her television shows. While working on television, she established herself as a solo artist with the number-one singles “Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves”, “Half-Breed”, and “Dark Lady”. After her divorce from Sonny Bono in 1975, Cher’s much-publicized personal life led to a decline in her career, although she launched a minor comeback in 1979 with the disco-oriented album Take Me Home and earned $300,000 a week for her 1980–1982 residency show in Las Vegas.

In the early 1980s, Cher made her Broadway debut, and then starred in the film Silkwood. Her performance earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1983. In the ensuing years, she starred in films such as Mask, The Witches of Eastwick, and Moonstruck. She made her directorial debut in the 1996 film If These Walls Could Talk. At the same time, she established herself as a rock singer by releasing platinum albums such as Heart of Stone (1989) and top-ten singles such as “I Found Someone” and “If I Could Turn Back Time”. She reached a new commercial peak in 1998 with the song “Believe”, which features the pioneering use of Auto-Tune, also known as the “Cher effect”. Her 2002–2005 Living The Farewell Tour ended up as the highest-grossing music tour by a female artist then. In 2008, she signed a $60 million per-year deal to headline the Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas for three years. After seven years of absence, she returned to film in the 2010 musical Burlesque. Cher’s first studio album in 12 years, Closer to the Truth, became her highest-charting solo album in the U.S. to date.

more tracks from the album

The Glory of Gershwin

From the album

The Glory of Gershwin (1994)

Cher popular songs

It Ain’t Necessarily SoCher

Cher

The Glory of Gershwin