"Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves" is an upbeat pop and folk rock story-song that features instrumentation from a carnival calliope and a piano with strings in the background.

Cher sings from the point of view of a 16-year-old Romani girl, who was "born in the wagon of a traveling show" and describes her life.

The song received positive reviews by music critics, and earned Cher a Grammy Award nomination in the Best Female Pop Vocal Performance category.

It was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipment of one million copies across the United States.

Along with the parent album, "Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves" was considered a turning point in Cher's career, with critics starting to acknowledge her as an artist and crediting the song for restoring her popularity, which had diminished at the end of the previous decade.

"Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves" was the first single from Chér with instrumental backing by L.A session musicians from the Wrecking Crew.

Though the family endures jeers of being "gypsies, tramps and thieves" from townsmen, the men of the town would always come out at night to "lay their money down", implying that they both fell for their scams and solicited sexual favors from the women of the group, including the narrator.

[5] 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.