"Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)" is a song written and recorded by

Billy Joel William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Piano Man" after his Signature song, signature 1973 song Piano Man (song), of the same name, Joel has ha ...

, featured on his 1977 album '' The Stranger'' as the opening track. The song critiques the ambitions of working- and

lower Lower may refer to: * ''Lower'' (album), 2025 album by Benjamin Booker *Lower (surname) *Lower Township, New Jersey *Lower Receiver (firearms) *Lower Wick Lower Wick is a small hamlet located in the county of Gloucestershire, England. It is sit ...

middle-class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Commo ...

New Yorkers who strive for material success as evidence of social mobility, working long hours to afford the outward signs of having "made it". Joel describes characters with

blue-collar A blue-collar worker is a person who performs manual labor or skilled trades. Blue-collar work may involve skilled or unskilled labor. The type of work may involve manufacturing, retail, warehousing, mining, carpentry, electrical work, custodia ...

occupations attempting to distance themselves from their working-class roots by acquiring status symbols, such as upgrading from a

Chevy Chevrolet ( ) is an American automobile division of the manufacturer General Motors (GM). In North America, Chevrolet produces and sells a wide range of vehicles, from subcompact automobiles to medium-duty commercial trucks. Due to the promi ...

to a

Cadillac Cadillac Motor Car Division, or simply Cadillac (), is the luxury vehicle division (business), division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Its major markets are the United States, Canada and China; Cadillac models are ...

or purchasing a home in

Hackensack, New Jersey Hackensack is the most populous municipality in and the county seat of Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.

. He implies these efforts are ultimately futile. According to Joel, Anthony is not a real person, but rather "every Irish,

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

, and

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

kid trying to make a living in the US". The recording concludes with the sound effect of a car, bass player

Doug Stegmeyer Douglas Alan Stegmeyer (December 23, 1951 – August 25, 1995) was an American musician who was best known as a bassist and back-up vocalist for Billy Joel. Stegmeyer also performed as bassist for Debbie Gibson and Hall & Oates. Life and car ...

's 1960s

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, starting and driving away, symbolizing departure. Live performances of the song can be heard on '' 2000 Years: The Millennium Concert'' and ''

12 Gardens Live ''12 Gardens Live'' is the fourth live album by American singer/songwriter Billy Joel, recorded during a former record run of 12 sold-out concerts at Madison Square Garden in New York City in early 2006. It was released on June 13, 2006. Althou ...

''.

Reception

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' described "Movin' Out" as an "upbeat narrative that is sort of a commentary on upward mobility". ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' said that "growling cellos and a pulsating rhythm section set the mood for Joel's threatening indictment of middle-class values" and that it has "one of the best choruses he has written in some time, combined with unusual echo effects, a yapping horn section, and a melodic guitar finale that wraps it all up nicely." ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of three major weekly music industry trade magazines in the United States, with ''Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 as ''Music Vendor''. In 1964, it was changed to ''Record World'' under the ...

'' said it is "a typically expressive Joel song, with New York City references and an unusual, piano-dominated structure."

Versions

The 45RPM single slightly differs from the album version as the sound effects of the car near the end of the song were removed. The single was originally released in Autumn of 1977, but was pulled when Joel's previous single started climbing the charts. It was re-released in March 1978.

Personnel

– lead and backing vocals, piano *

Steve Khan Steve Khan (born Steven Harris Cahn; April 28, 1947) is an American jazz guitarist. Career Steven Harris Cahn was born in Los Angeles. His father, lyricist Sammy Cahn, "loved to hear any and all versions of his songs". He took piano lessons as a ...

and

Hiram Bullock Hiram Law Bullock (September 11, 1955 – July 25, 2008) was an American guitarist known mainly for playing in jazz funk and jazz fusion, but he also worked as a session musician in a variety of genres. Biography Bullock was born in Osaka, Ja ...

– electric guitars * Richie Cannata –

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

s *

– bass guitar *

Liberty DeVitto Liberatori "Liberty" DeVitto (born August 8, 1950) is an American rock drummer. He is best known for his work as a drummer for singer-songwriter Billy Joel's recording and touring band. He has been a session drummer on recordings of other artists ...

– drums

Broadway musical

The

Twyla Tharp Twyla Tharp (; born July 1, 1941) is an American dancer, choreographer, and author who lives and works in New York City. In 1965 she formed the company Twyla Tharp Dance, which merged with American Ballet Theatre in 1988. She regrouped the compa ...

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

dance musical '' Movin' Out'', featuring the songs of Billy Joel, opened at the

Richard Rodgers Theatre The Richard Rodgers Theatre (formerly Chanin's 46th Street Theatre and the 46th Street Theatre) is a Broadway theater at 226 West 46th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. Opened in 1925, it was ...

in New York City on October 24, 2002, and played 1,307 performances before closing in December 2005. The show's lead piano player and singer was Michael Cavanaugh. It toured the US extensively from 2004 to 2007, with Darren Holden as lead Piano Man, and Matt Wilson,

James Fox James William Fox (born William Fox; 19 May 1939) is an English actor known for his work in film and television. Fox's career began in the 1960s through roles in films such as '' The Servant'' and ''Performance''. He is also known for his role ...

and Matthew Friedman as second Piano Men. The show transferred to the Apollo Victoria Theatre in the West End of London on April 10, 2006;

played lead piano and sang, with Darren Reeves as second piano man. It closed early, on May 22, owing to poor ticket sales. ''Movin' Out'' is also the title of the original Broadway cast album taken from the musical.

Track listing

;Europe # "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)" – time: 3:28 # " She's Always A Woman" – time: 3:21 ;UK # "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)" – time: 3:28 # "

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

" – time: 3:34 ;United States # "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)" – time: 3:28 # "Everybody Has A Dream" – time: 4:36

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

Billy Joel official website
* {{authority control 1977 singles 1978 singles Billy Joel songs Songs written by Billy Joel Song recordings produced by Phil Ramone Columbia Records singles 1977 songs