This cheeky little song from Hank is meant to get a chuckle. The writing is just so relatable, easy to just gel with, and if you pair it with the gospel number I Saw the Light, recorded at the same 1947 session, you get the full spread of Hank’s “good and bad” sides. You can also hear where Johnny Cash found a lot of his early inspiration. Hank’s voice is raw, direct country with a clear hillbilly edge.
The song follows a man who is forced to sleep in the doghouse after coming home late at night and not being allowed into his house by his wife. In many respects, the song typified Williams’ uncanny ability to express in a humorous way the aspects of everyday life that listeners could relate to – and rarely heard on the radio
Hank Williams and fellow country artist – Woody Guthrie (aiming more towards social-injustice) were huge influences on what came after, and it’s hard to overstate how much they shaped American music. On one side you had Johnny and Hank, and on the other Bob Dylan and Woody. By the mid-’60s Cash and Dylan had become so close and even worked together, each drawn to the other’s music and background.
But the groundwork had already been laid by those early giants – Hank Williams and Woody Guthrie. Their impact helped create not only the artists that followed but also the rise of musica Americana and the later folk-rock sound that groups like The Band (with Bob of course) carried forward.
The following is abridged from the Wikipedia article below:
Move It On Over was recorded on April 21, 1947 at Castle Studio in Nashville, Williams’ first session for MGM and the same session that produced “I Saw the Light,” “(Last Night) I Heard You Crying in Your Sleep,” and “Six More Miles to the Graveyard.” Nashville had no session men during this period, so producer Fred Rose hired Red Foley’s backing band, one of the sharpest around, to back Williams.
The song is considered one of the earliest examples of rock and roll music. Though many claim the song “Rock Around the Clock,” released in 1954 by Bill Haley & His Comets, was the first rock and roll single, it resembles “Move it On Over“, as both feature the same twelve-bar blues arrangement with a melody starting with three repetitions of an ascending arpeggio of the tonic chord, which Williams had partially derived from an old Mardi Gras riff, “Second Line.”
Move It on Over was Williams’ first major hit, reaching No. 4 on the Billboard Most Played Juke Box Folk Records chart and got him a write up in The Alabama Journal. The revenue generated by the song was the first serious money the singer had ever seen in his life.
[Verse 1]
Came in last night at a half past ten
That baby of mine wouldn’t let me in
So move it on over (Move it on over)
Move it on over (Move it on over)
Move over, little dog, ’cause the big dog’s movin in
[Verse 2]
She’s changed the lock on our front door
My door key don’t fit no more
So get it on over (Move it on over)
Scoot it on over (Move it on over)
Move over, skinny dog, ’cause the fat dog’s moving in
[Verse 3]
This doghouse here is mighty small
But it’s better than no house at all
So ease it on over (Move it on over)
Drag it on over (Move it on over)
Move over, old dog ’cause a new dog’s moving in
[Verse 4]
She told me not to play around
But I done let the deal go down
So pack it on over (Move it on over)
Tote it on over (Move it on over)
Move over, nice dog, ’cause a mad dog’s moving in
[Verse 5]
She warned me once, she warned me twice
But I don’t take no one’s advice
So scratch it on over (Move it on over)
Shake it on over (Move it on over)
Move over, short dog, ’cause a tall dog’s moving in
[Verse 6]
She’ll crawl back to me on her knees
I’ll be busy scratching fleas
So slide it on over (Move it on over)
Sneak it on over (Move it on over)
Move over, good dog, ’cause a mad dog’s moving in
[Verse 7]
Remember pup, before you whine
That side’s yours and this side’s mine
So shove it on over (Move it on over)
Sweep it on over (Move it on over)
Move over, cold dog ’cause a hot dog’s moving in
References:
1. Move It On Over (song) – Wikipedia
“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand
Observation Blogger 
I love this man…much more than his son…Hank was one of the best songwriters ever. Some are simple but deep as well. I always liked this one and one of the others I really like is Lost Highway and So Lonesome I Could Cry…if only for the lyric “The silence of a falling star, lights up a purple sky”
Some wonderfully poignant reflections here, Max, on Hank – including that beautiful lyric. Thanks for sharing.
Well you inspired me…because I did something similiar today!
What a friggin’ great early rock & roll song! I instantly recognized it, but I don’t think I had known it from Hank Williams. I believe I had previously heard Bill Haley’s rendition. Which would make sense since I listened quite a bit to Bill Haley and His Comets during my early teenage years back in Germany.
I don’t know where I first heard Hank’s version, but it certainly made a strong impression on me. And considering that some people recognise it as an origin piece of rock ’n’ roll, that leaves quite a legacy. Also the story is just so cartoonish, yet brilliant as a satire in music.
[…] song is what a grimy bar (not a dance club) in the 1980s sounded like…trust me. I forgot to thank Matt, who posted this Hank Williams song […]
Great post Matt….
Thanks, man. Though when I reread the post the next day, I hated it—I felt like I’d botched it in every possible way. So… there you go, sometimes you never know.