Sherman Hemsley‘s death has brought a flood of “Movin’ on up” headlines. But why stop there?
The theme song to The Jeffersons is loaded with so many hints about death and dying, it might have been written by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross:
Well we’re movin’ on up,
To the East Side.
To a deluxe apartment in the sky.
Movin’ on up
To the East Side.
We 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.
Well we’re movin’ on up,
To the East Side.
To a deluxe apartment in the sky.
Movin’ on up
To the East Side.
We finally got a piece of the pie.
It’s like they were predicting Sherman Hemsley’s death in 1975.
Fish don’t fry in the kitchen: would that be HELL’S Kitchen? Just a little insider reference for you New Yorkers, there. And what could be more heavenly than the East Side of Manhattan, where a building with a doorman (<cough> St. Peter <cough>) is everybody’s dream?
If you don’t do a whole lotta tryin’, sinner, you might burn on the grill later. So as long as we live, let’s try to get up that hill. You know, into the big leagues, where God is the designated hitter.
Deluxe apartment in the sky needs no interpretation. I think Creflo Dollar uses that line in his sermons right now. As for piece of the pie, ever read up on the origins of the phrase “pie in the sky”? It’s from an old labor movement song:
You will eat, bye and bye,In that glorious land above the sky;Work and pray, live on hay,You’ll get pie in the sky when you die.
Pie in the sky when you die, yes.
With all that, it’s no surprise that the PR photo for The Jeffersons has Sherman Hemsley dressed in a dark suit and holding a funeral carnation. He is the Paul McCartney of 1970s sitcoms. It’s a wonder they didn’t show him walking across 5th Avenue barefoot. Probably if you play The Jeffersons theme backwards, you hear “I bury Sherm” over and over.
So best wishes to you, Mr. Hemsley, and may you rest in peace. You finally got that piece of the pie.