"Movin' On Up" was the theme song for the TV sitcom The Jeffersons. Written by Ja'net Du Bois (who was in Good Times, and played Janet Jackson's mother in that show, god I miss those Norman Lear comedies!) in 1975 and performed by her and singer Jeff Barry the song is absolutely exuberant in a way that only Southern Gospel-inspired music can be. The show itself was about a middle-class black family whose patriarch, George Jefferson, had hit the big-time with a successful chain of dry cleaning stores in New York City. This allowed him to move his family out of the neighborhood he shared with taxi driver Archie Bunker and into a nice penthouse apartment on the East Side. Hijinks ensued as the Jeffersons encountered their wacky neighbors, sometimes making George Jefferson and his long-suffering wife Ouisie long for the simple life. The song reflects the sheer fun and joy of the situation this TV show presented:
Well we're movin' on up!
chorus: Movin' on up!
To the east side!
chorus: Movin' on up!
To a dee-luxe apartment in the sky
We're movin' on up!
chorus: Movin' on up!
To the east side!
Movin' on up!
All: We've finally got a piece of the pie!
Fish don't fry in the kitchen,
Beans don't burn on the grill.
Took a whole lotta tryin'
Just to get up that hill.
Now we're up in the big leagues,
Gettin' our turn at bat!
As long as we live,
It's you and me, baby!
There ain't nothin' wrong with that!
Hooray, we're movin' on up!
chorus: Movin' on up!
To the east side!
chorus: Movin' on up!
To a dee-luxe apartment in the sky!
We're movin' on up!
chorus: Movin' on up!
To the east side!
chorus: Movin' on Up!
all: We've finally got a piece of the pie!