Billy Joel - Movin' out (Anthony's song)

First performance: 16/10/2008

Coverinfo

Bruce performed the song only once:
 
2008-10-16 Hammerstein Ballroom, New York City, NY 
 
"Change Rocks" benefit show for Barack Obama's presidential campaign. Bruce played 'Movin' out (Anthony's song) togther with Billy Joel and his band, Patti Scialfa, and Roy Bittan.
 
With John Legend: IF YOU'RE OUT THERE /  With Billy Joel and his band, Patti Scialfa, and Roy Bittan : MOVIN' OUT (ANTHONY'S SONG) / A MATTER OF TRUST / ALLENTOWN / NEW YORK STATE OF MIND / RIVER OF DREAMS / PEOPLE GET READY (with John Legend and India Arie) / SIGNED, SEALED, DELIVERED I'M YOURS (with John Legend, India Arie, and Barack Obama)
 
 
 

Songinfo

"Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)" is a song written and recorded by Billy Joel. The track details the singer's disgust with the upwardly mobile bourgeois aspirations of working- and lower-middle-class New Yorkers who take pride in working long hours to afford the outward signs of having "made it". Characters have stereotypically ethnic names (Anthony, Mama Leone, Sergeant O'Leary, Mr. Cacciatore) and blue-collar jobs. Joel considers their rejection of their working-class roots (trading a Chevy for a Cadillac and buying a house in Hackensack, New Jersey) ultimately futile; in the end, the rewards are a "heart attack" or "a broken back". According to Joel, Anthony is not a real person, but rather "every Irish, Polish, and Italian kid trying to make a living in the U.S."
 
 
 

Other cover versions

Bruce on the artist

Billy Joel on Bruce Springsteen :
 
Bruce and Billy Joel are long time friends : Joel’s favorite song 
 
Billy Joel performed 12 times together with Bruce
 
 
 
2018-07-18 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
2012-11-02 Rockefeller Center, GE Building, Studio 6A, New York City, NY
2011-10-01 Beacon Theatre, New York City, NY
2009-10-29 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
2008-10-16 Hammerstein Ballroom, New York City, NY
1999-03-15 Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, New York City, NY
1995-04-12 Carnegie Hall, New York City, NY
1992-11-10 Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, NY
1988-01-20 Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, New York City, NY
1987-12-13 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
1974-12-14 Auditorium, New Brunswick, NJ 
 

Lyrics

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

[Chorus]
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

[Verse 2]
Sergeant O'Leary is walkin' the beat
At night he becomes a bartender
He works at Mr. Cacciatore's down on Sullivan Street
Across from the medical center
Yeah and he's tradin' in his Chevy for a Cadillac
You oughta know by now
And if he can't drive with a broken back
At least he can polish the fenders

[Chorus]
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

[Verse 3]
You should never argue with a crazy mind
You oughta know by now
You can pay Uncle Sam with the overtime
Is that all you get for your money

[Chorus 2]
And if that's what you have in mind
Yeah, if that's what you're all about
Good luck movin' up cause I'm movin' out