About The Song
“Move It On Over” is a 1947 song written and recorded by American country singer-songwriter Hank Williams. It was his first single for MGM Records and is widely regarded as his first major hit. Williams cut the track with his band, the Drifting Cowboys, at Castle Studio in Nashville on April 21, 1947, and MGM released it as single no. 10033 in June 1947, with “(Last Night) I Heard You Crying in Your Sleep” as the B-side. The song runs about 2 minutes and 49 seconds and blends country, honky-tonk, blues and early rockabilly elements, marking a significant step forward in his recording career.
The single came at a turning point for Williams. Earlier in 1947 he had left Sterling Records, where he had issued lesser-selling sides such as “Never Again (Will I Knock on Your Door)” and “Honky Tonkin’.” Songwriter and publisher Fred Rose, impressed by Williams’ potential, bought the Sterling masters, took over management, and negotiated a new deal with the recently formed MGM label. “Move It On Over” was the first fruit of that arrangement. It was published by Acuff-Rose on July 16, 1947 and recorded in 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),” signalling the start of his classic period. :contentReference[oaicite:0]{index=0}
Musically, “Move It On Over” is built on a twelve-bar blues framework rather than a pure hillbilly waltz or straight two-step. Contemporary analysis notes that Williams drew on earlier blues recordings, including melodic ideas that can be traced back to Jim Jackson’s 1927 “Kansas City Blues” and later treatments by Charley Patton and Count Basie. Over this structure, producer Fred Rose hired Red Foley’s seasoned studio band to back Williams, adding polished guitar work and a swinging rhythm that pushed the track beyond typical late-1940s country. This mixture of Western swing smoothness and Deep South blues feel is one reason the song is often cited as an early prototype of rock and roll. :contentReference[oaicite:1]{index=1}
Lyrically, the song describes a man who comes home late, angers his wife and is locked out of the house, forced to “move it on over” and sleep in the doghouse. The verses detail his attempts to negotiate with the dog for space while acknowledging his own bad behavior. Biographers and musicians have pointed out that, although the scenario sounds like novelty material, Williams treats it as a realistic slice of married life rather than a throwaway joke. Fiddler Jerry Rivers later remarked that songs like this were accepted because audiences recognized themselves in the situations: many listeners would have known what it felt like to be metaphorically “in the doghouse” at home. :contentReference[oaicite:2]{index=2}
On release, “Move It On Over” quickly became Williams’ breakthrough. It reached No. 4 on Billboard’s Most Played Juke Box Folk Records chart, the main national country listing of the time, and stayed on the survey long enough to establish him as a new force in the genre. The single reportedly sold over 100,000 copies within a few months, giving Williams his first substantial royalty income and early national press coverage. Its success helped secure him a spot on the Louisiana Hayride radio show, which in turn paved the way for later appearances on the Grand Ole Opry and a run of hit singles through the late 1940s and early 1950s. :contentReference[oaicite:3]{index=3}
The song’s influence extends beyond the country charts. Critics and historians frequently note strong similarities between “Move It On Over” and Bill Haley & His Comets’ 1954 hit “Rock Around the Clock”: both use a twelve-bar blues scheme with a melody that opens with repeated ascending arpeggios of the tonic chord. This has led several writers to describe Williams’ recording as one of the earliest examples of rock and roll, or at least a direct precursor. Later covers by Bill Haley, George Thorogood and others kept the song in circulation across rock and roots-rock audiences, while a duet version by Travis Tritt and George Thorogood reached the country chart again in 1999. :contentReference[oaicite:4]{index=4}
Within Hank Williams’ catalogue, “Move It On Over” is now viewed as a key early statement. It was his first MGM hit, his first Billboard chart entry and the record that demonstrated he could connect regional honky-tonk style with national audiences. The track appears prominently on compilations such as 40 Greatest Hits and in retrospectives that frame it as the moment country music shifted toward a leaner, rhythmically sharper sound. In that sense, “Move It On Over” stands not only as a popular song in its own right but also as a landmark in the development of modern country and early rock-and-roll-influenced popular music.
Video
Lyric
Came in last night at 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 moving in
She changed the lock on my front door
My door key don’t work 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
The dog house 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
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
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 tall dog’s moving in
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
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