Movin' Out

Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)
(The Stranger) (1977)

There is no music video for "Movin' Out," which was released in 1977, so I made this video.

Download "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)"

       You can pay Uncle Sam with the overtime,
    Is that all you get for your money?

The opening track to The Stranger, "Movin' Out" is paean to the suburban working class, living a 9-to-5 life and longing for something more. But what? A house in Hackensack? A Cadillac you can't drive because you worked so hard to pay for it that you had a heart attack? Is that all you get for your money?

The characters in the song (Anthony, Mama Leone, Sergeant O'Leary) are not unlike those from "Piano Man" (John at the bar, Davy in the Navy, Paul the real estate novelist), all stuck in their routines and lives, and hoping for a better life, a Cadillac instead of Chevy. The teenager from "Captain Jack" who has a "tape deck and [a] brand new Chevrolet" and later "made it with a red-head girl in Chevrolet" is now trading in his Chevy for a Cadillac.

The song has a great meandering bass line and is accented by organ and piano flourishes that give it an "Italian" sound. The actual moving out is signaled by the "Layla"-like piano outro and the sound of a car peeling out of a driveway, which was a recording of bassist Doug Stegmeyer's Corvette.

"Movin' Out" was the second hit from The Stranger. Although it was released before "Just The Way You Are," it did not become a hit until "Just The Way You Are" shot up the charts. Now it is one of Billy's signature songs.

Billy talks about "Movin' Out" on SiriusXM. Click above.

Anthony works in the grocery store
Savin' his pennies for some day
Mama Leone left a note on the door
She said "Sonny move out to the country"
Ah but working too hard can give you
A heart attack, ack, ack, ack, ack, ack
You ought-a know by now
Who needs a house out in Hackensack?
Is that all you get for your money?

Sergeant O'Leary is walkin' the beat
At night he becomes a bartender
He works at Mister Cacciatore's
Down on Sullivan Street
Across from the medical center
And he's tradin' in his Chevy for
A Cadillac ack ack ack ack ack
You ought-a know by now
And if he can't drive with a broken back
At least he can polish the fenders.

And it seems such a waste of time
If that's what it's all about
Mama if that's movin' up then I'm movin' out
I'm movin' out

You should never argue with a crazy mi mi mi mi mi mind
You ought-a know by now
You can pay Uncle Sam with the overtime
Is that all you get for your money
And if that's what you have in mind
Then that's what you're all about
Good luck movin' up cause I'm movin' out
I'm movin out.

And if that's what you have in mind
Then that's what you're all about
Good luck movin' up cause I'm movin'out
I'm movin' out.

Billy and the band movin' out. Publicity photo (1976)

Videos

Demo version of "Movin' Out" (audio only).
Thanks to DundheBhoy for posting.

Billy sings "Movin' Out" in December 1982 from the concert video Live From Long Island filmed at Nassau Coliseum.

Live from Tokyo in 2006.

Live version of "Movin' Out" from the television program The Old Grey Whistle Test (1978)

Billy discusses songs he has re-written, including "Movin' Out" and "Honesty" at the Berkelee College of Music, April 1, 1992. The original version of "Movin' Out" sounded like Neil Sedaka's "Laughter In the Rain."

"Movin' Out" from Library of Congress' Gershwin Award for Popular Music ceremony on November 19, 2014.

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