Janis Joplin – Move Over

I listened to Pearl today and was remembering  Janis who died 50 years ago on this date at the Landmark Motor Hotel (now Highland Gardens Hotel) while working on her album Pearl.

Janis Joplin is my favorite rock/blues female singer. I like a gravelly voice and Janis had that covered. She put her soul in every song and left everything on stage. Like her or not she was genuine. She had a rough life growing up in Port Arthur Texas being bullied in High School and College and finally making it in 1967 with Big Brother and the Holding Company when she moved to San Francisco.

Move Over was the first track on the Pearl album, which sold four million copies and hit #1 on the charts, all after Joplin passed away. She wrote this one herself and recorded it the same day as Trust Me and Me And Bobby McGee.

The album was released January 11, 1971, three months after her death. It peaked at #1 in the Billboard Album Charts, #1 in Canada, and #20 in the UK.

Janis went on the Dick Cavett Show on September 25, 1970, to perform “Move Over.” On the show, she stated that the song was about men…specifically the guy who tells you your relationship is over but won’t move on, thus equating the way some guys hold on love to the way one would dangle a carrot in front of a mule.

Move Over

You say that it’s over baby, Lord
You say that it’s over now
But still you hang around me, come on
Won’t you move over

You know that I need a man, honey Lord
You know that I need a man
But when I ask you to you just tell me
That maybe you can

Please don’t you do it to me babe, no!
Please don’t you do it to me baby
Either take this love I offer
Or just let me be

I ain’t quite a ready for walking, no no no no
I ain’t quite a ready for walking
And what you gonna do with your life
Life all just dangling?

Oh yeah
Make up your mind, honey
You’re playing with me, hey hey hey
Make up your mind, darling
You’re playing with me, come on now
Now either be my loving man
I said-a, let me honey, let me be, yeah

You say that it’s over, baby, no
You say that it’s over now
But still you hang around me, come on
Won’t you move over

You know that I need a man, honey, I told you so
You know that I need a man
But when I ask you to you just tell me
That maybe you can

Hey! Please don’t you do it to me, babe, no
Please don’t you do it to me baby
Either take this love I offer
Honey let me be

I said won’t you, won’t you let me be
Honey, you’re teasing me
Yeah, you’re playing with my heart, dear
I believe you’re toying with my affections, honey

I can’t take it no more baby
And furthermore, I don’t intend to
I’m just tired of hanging from the end of a string, honey
You expect me to fight like a goddamned mule
Wah, wah, wah, wah, honey

Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player.

16 thoughts on “Janis Joplin – Move Over”

  2. If you ever get a chance to see Mary Bridget Davies in “A Night with Janis Joplin,” you should. She captures Janis perfectly — both in gestures and voice.

    This is a great song, and a wonderful way to remember Janis. Thank you.

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  4. Cavett loved Janis. He loved her intellect and her passion; he was very supportive of her as was Francesco Scavullo–a famous photographer who photographed some of the most beautiful women in the world. Joplin was his favorite subject because she let him see her and capture her as she was.
    Joplin was a very good songwriter. She played it down with bravado in her famous quote, “I don’t write songs. I just make them up,” but she actually worked very hard at it. She worked very hard perfecting her singing style too. She was not nearly as spontaneous or as cavalier as she wanted people to believe. Sadly, her made up alter ego eclipsed her own sense of self and contributed to her demise. It is hard to imagine her today if she had lived…she would be 77, but no one who abused heroine and alcohol like she did would be alive today with the possible exception of Keith Richards.

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    1. It seems like Keith Richards is always the exception to the rule doesn’t it?

      I didn’t know that about Francesco Scavullo…that is something…it makes sense on her part…she was geniune and that is why I like her so much…makes me more a fan of her.

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    1. People say she was tremendous live and she had a sex appeal like no other…I’ve read where people said that pictures don’t’ do her justice.
      Her live show was supposedly great.

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