I'm Moving On (Hank Snow song)

According to Snow, he proposed the song for his first session for RCA Records in 1949, but recording director Stephen H. Sholes turned it down. "Later on, in the spring of 1950, in Nashville, Mr. Sholes had not remembered the song, so I recorded it," Snow recalled.[1]

The song has four bars of verse followed by eight bars of chorus with the final lines referring back to the verse:

That big eight-wheeler rollin' down the track
Means your true-lovin' daddy ain't comin' back
'Cause I'm movin' on, I'll soon be gone
You were flyin' too high for my little old sky so I'm movin' on

The single reached number one on the Billboard country singles chart and stayed there for 21 weeks, tying a record for the most weeks atop the chart.[2] It was the first of seven number-one Billboard country hits Snow scored throughout his career on that chart.[2] The song's success led to Snow joining the Grand Ole Opry cast in 1950.[3]

"I'm Moving On" is one of three songs in the history of the Billboard country charts to spend 21 weeks at number one, the others being 1947's "I'll Hold You in My Heart (Till I Can Hold You in My Arms)" by Eddy Arnold and 1955's "In the Jailhouse Now" by Webb Pierce. It spent 44 weeks in Billboard's top 10.[2] Until August 2013, the three songs jointly held the record for most weeks at the top position on the country chart, until being surpassed by "Cruise" by Florida Georgia Line, which logged its 22nd week atop the chart on August 10, 2013.

According to music writer John Morthland, "The chugging beat establishes that this is a train song, and the fiddle and steel push harder than is usual on Nashville records from this era ... There's real anger and determination in Snow's voice, which sometimes sounds too smooth for this type of song."[4]

• Ray Charles – In 1959, a version by Ray Charles reached number forty on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and number eleven on the R&B singles chart. Charles's version with his soul band featured congas and maracas, giving the Spanish tinge to a country and western blues. It was recorded on June 26, 1959, at his last recording session with Atlantic Records,[5] months before he signed with ABC. Produced by Jerry Wexler, Charles provides the lead vocals, and is backed by the Raelettes. The Ray Charles Orchestra provided the instrumentation.
• Don Gibson – reached No. 14 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart with a recording of the song in 1960.[2]
• Matt Lucas – In June 1963, his Smash Records single reached No. 56 on the Hot 100.
• Emmylou Harris – Recorded an uptempo live version of "I'm Moving On" which reached No. 5 on the Hot Country Singles chart[2] and No. 1 on the RPM Country Tracks chart in Canada in the spring of 1983.
• Hank Snow – In 1977, he recorded a sequel titled "I'm Still Movin' On" with some new lyrics. It is tribute to country artists who died, including Jimmie Rodgers and Hank Williams and also mentions other country musicians, such as Hank Williams Jr. Snow's single reached no. 80 on the Country Music charts.