McDowell was born in Rossville, Tennessee, near Memphis. His parents, who w… Read Full Bio ↴McDowell was born in Rossville, Tennessee, near Memphis. His parents, who were farmers, died when McDowell was a youth. He started playing guitar at the age of 14 and played at dances around Rossville. Wanting a change from plowing fields, he moved to Memphis in 1926 where he started to work in the Buck-Eye feed mill where they processed cotton into oil and other products.[4] He also had a number of other jobs and played music for tips. Later in 1928 he moved south into Mississippi to pick cotton.[4] He settled in Como, Mississippi, about 40 miles south of Memphis, in 1940 or 1941, and worked steadily as a farmer, continuing to perform music at dances and picnics. Initially he played slide guitar using a pocket knife and then a slide made from a beef rib bone, later switching to a glass slide for its clearer sound. He played with the slide on his ring finger.[5]
While commonly lumped together with Delta Blues singers, McDowell actually may be considered the first of the bluesmen from the 'North Mississippi' region - parallel to, but somewhat east of the Delta region - to achieve widespread recognition for his work. A version of the state's signature musical form somewhat closer in structure to its African roots (often eschewing the chord change for the hypnotic effect of the droning, single chord vamp), the north hill country blues style (or at least its aesthetic) may be heard to have been carried on in the music of such figures as Junior Kimbrough and R. L. Burnside, while serving as the original impetus behind creation of the Fat Possum record label out of Oxford, Mississippi.[6]
The 1950s brought a rising interest in blues music and folk music in the United States and McDowell was brought to wider public attention, beginning when he was discovered and recorded in 1959 by Alan Lomax and Shirley Collins.[7] McDowell's records were popular, and he performed often at festivals and clubs.[8] McDowell continued to perform blues in the North Mississippi blues style much as he had for decades, but he sometimes performed on electric guitar rather than acoustic guitar. While he famously declared "I do not play no rock and roll," McDowell was not averse to associating with many younger rock musicians: He coached Bonnie Raitt on slide guitar technique,[8] and was reportedly flattered by The Rolling Stones' rather straightforward, authentic version of his "You Gotta Move" on their 1971 Sticky Fingers album[citation needed].
McDowell's 1969 album I Do Not Play No Rock 'N' Roll was his first featuring electric guitar. It features parts of an interview in which he discusses the origins of the blues and the nature of love. (This interview was sampled and mixed into a song, also titled "I Do Not Play No Rock 'N' Roll" by Dangerman in 1999.) McDowell's final album,[9] Live in New York (Oblivion Records), was a concert performance from November 1971 at the Village Gaslight (aka The Gaslight Cafe), Greenwich Village, New York.
McDowell died of cancer in 1972, aged 68, and was buried at Hammond Hill Baptist Church, between Como and Senatobia, Mississippi. On August 6, 1993 a memorial was placed on his grave site by the Mt. Zion Memorial Fund. The ceremony was presided over by Dick Waterman, and the memorial with McDowell's portrait upon it was paid for by Bonnie Raitt. The memorial stone was a replacement for an inaccurate and damaged marker (McDowell's name was misspelled) and the original stone was subsequently donated by McDowell's family to the Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale, Mississippi.

You Got To Move
Fred McDowell Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

You got to move
You got to move
You got to move, child
You got to move
But when the Lord
Gets ready
You got to move

You may be high
You may be low
You may be rich, child
You may be po'
But when the Lord gets ready
You've got to move

You see that woman
That walk the street
You see the policeman
Out on his beat
But when the Lord gets ready
You got to move

You got to move
You got to move
You've got to move, child
You've got to

But when the Lord gets ready
You got to move.

Overall Meaning

The power of this particular song lies in the simplicity of its lyrics and the depth of its meaning. On the surface, it is a straightforward call to action to keep moving and stay ahead of life's challenges, but when considered in the context of the spiritual beliefs of its composer and performer, Fred McDowell, it takes on a more profound significance.

The repeated refrain "You got to move" serves as a reminder that life is unpredictable and that we must be adaptable in order to survive. This message is reinforced by the imagery of the woman walking the street and the policeman on his beat, which suggest the constant motion of the everyday world. However, the real power of the song comes from the final line, which introduces the concept of the divine will - "But when the Lord gets ready, you got to move" - and reminds us that our journey through life is ultimately guided by forces beyond our control.

As an African American blues musician from Tennessee, Fred McDowell was deeply influenced by the spiritual traditions of his community, including the Pentecostal church. This background is reflected in the transcendent quality of his music, which manages to convey both the hardship and the hope of the African American experience. "You Got To Move" is one of his most famous songs, and has been covered by countless artists in a variety of genres.

Line by Line Meaning

You got to move
You need to keep moving forward in life.

You got to move
You need to keep progressing and not stay stagnant.

You got to move, child
You need to keep moving forward, regardless of your age.

You got to move
You need to keep making progress towards your goals.

But when the Lord Gets ready
But when the time is right and opportunities arise,

You got to move
You need to be ready to take action and make things happen.

You may be high
You may have a high status in society or feel good about yourself.

You may be low
You may have a low status in society or feel bad about yourself.

You may be rich, child
You may be wealthy and successful.

You may be po'
You may be poor and struggling.

But when the Lord gets ready You've got to move
But regardless of your social status, when opportunities arise, you need to be ready to take action.

You see that woman That walk the street
You see people who are struggling, especially women who may be involved in prostitution or other difficult situations.

You see the policeman Out on his beat
You see authority figures, like the police officer, who are meant to enforce laws and maintain order.

But when the Lord gets ready You got to move
But regardless of who you see or what circumstances you face, you need to be ready to take action when opportunities arise.

You got to move
You need to keep making progress in your life.

You got to move
You need to be constantly pushing yourself to achieve your goals.

You've got to move, child
You need to keep pushing forward, even if things get tough.

You've got to
You must not give up on your dreams and goals.

But when the Lord gets ready You got to move.
But when opportunities arise, you need to be ready to take action and make things happen.

Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: FRED MCDOWELL

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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