This song is about a woman who visits a famous fortune teller. The fortune teller (the "dark lady") tells her to break up with her boyfriend. Later on, the shocked protagonist remembers where she smelt the fortune teller's perfume before: on her bed after a night with her lover. She returns to the dark lady with a gun and finds her beau making love to the fortune teller. In a split decision, she pulls the trigger and kills the dark lady.
Keyboard player Johnny Durrill, who was a member of The Five Americans and The Ventures, wrote this song. Johnny Durrill submitted it to Cher's producer, Snuff Garrett, who had some definitive feedback. "When I was on tour in Japan with the Ventures, I was writing an interesting song," Durrill explained. "I telegraphed the unfinished lyrics to Garrett. He said to 'make sure the bitch kills him.' Hence, in the song both the lover and fortune teller were killed. That song became 'Dark Lady' which Cher cut; it went to #1 in 1974. Garrett provided me access to artists such as Cher and Sinatra and other opportunities such as soundtracks."
According to Durrill, everyone but Cher knew they had a hit on their hands. He said: "Everybody knew it was a hit the minute they heard Cher's vocal on the playback, though she didn't particularly like it."
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