These are my notes from a draft of the Housing Songbook:

The theme of this song is the classic one of eviction. Written back in 1906 by the prolific "Tin Pan Alley" team of Harry Von Tilzner and Andrew B. Sterling, this song was movingly prefaced as "Respectfully dedicated to Landlords". The song title "Moving Day" describes the 19th century practice of mass exodus on May 1st for many urban tenants:

The first of May to New Yorkers did not mean the traditional spring revels associated with the day, but instead was the time leases expired, rents for lack of effective controls increased, and people went into the red to remain in their homes or went out into the streets in search of less costly lodgings. One Samual Woodsworth, Esq., writing in 1831, was hard pressed to describe the annual event: "May-Day in New York must be seen, and heard, and felt, and tasted, in order to be known and appreciated...about one-third of a population of two hundred thousand souls change their residence annually." Like a game of musical chairs in which "each must change his place, uncertain if he gets a seat or no..."

This song was successfully revived by old-time stringbands such as Charlie Poole's in the 1920's, and continues to be revived to this day. Clearly, there is a universal theme here which appeals to more transient members of our society. The present version was adapted and arranged for ragtime guitar by Ray Kamalay of Lansing, Michigan.

Music by Harry Von Tilzer
Words by Andrew Sterling © 1906
As adapted by Ray Kamalay 1983
Recorded on We Won't Move, Folkways Records FS 5287
In American Manners & Morals, pp. 190-191

Moving Day

The landlord said this morning to me,
"Give me your key, this rent ain't free;
I can't live on nothing, you see,
Pack up your bags and skidoo, you!"
"I'm just waitin' for my Lill to come home,
She's my honey from the honey cone;
She told me she'd never leave me alone, this morning."

Chorus:

'Cause it's moving day, moving day,
Rip the carpet right off of the floor,
Pull on your overcoat, and get out the door;
'Cause it's moving day,
Pack up your gear and get away;
If you can't pay your rent,
You got to live out in a tent,
'Cause it's moo-ho-oving day!

Lill come in all covered with snow,
I said, "Hello, you got any dough?
Here's old landlord waitin' for rent."
Lill says, "I ain't got a cent."
"Come and get me, Mr. Landlord man,
I'll be leaving just as soon as I can,
I'm heading back to Dixieland, this morning." (CHO)

I should add that I co-produced We Won't Move back in 1979 while resident in Michigan and it is now available in CD from Smithsonian.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble