A Punk Perspective On Oliver Anthony’s Overnight Sensation “Rich Men North Of Richmond”

Right winged rallying cry? Moderate melodrama? Or just a guy complaining about the US?

Unless you’re living under a rock you know the exact song this article is about. Oliver Anthony and his folk country revival act are all over the internet these days. And it is for good reason after all, the song is not bad, the dude’s got songwriting chops!

But what is most interesting about it to me is that a lot of people in this country seem to be rallying around the song and sort of missing the point. I cannot speak to Oliver’s politics, only he truly can, though he claims to be a straight down the middle moderate. I personally don’t really think those exist, in fact most of the time they just happen to be republicans who aren’t as comfortable with the outwardly racist, xenophobic, and misogynistic troupes of their counterparts. But I’m willing to take Oliver at his word for now. So let’s dig into “Rich Men North Of Richmond”

The Good

There’s a lot to celebrate about this song before we dive into his message. Firstly, we love to see independent musicians achieve mainstream success. I’m not going to entertain the conspiracy theories that he’s an industry plant, I have yet to see any real proof of that. So assuming he’s not, it’s freaking awesome that this man’s genuine talent and performance has earned him whatever money, fame, or critical acclaim comes his way. We should all celebrate indie musicians accomplishing their goals and dreams. Quite frankly, almost nothing is more punk than that.

Is It Punk Or Is It Conservative?

Where I get a bit confused is why conservatives are rallying around this guy and his message. First off, the lyrics are essentially just the guy whining about the current state of the world. Which hey, that’s actually pretty punk too and I know I’m guilty of writing songs like that all the time too!

“I’ve been sellin’ my soul, workin’ all day / Overtime hours for bullshit pay / So I can sit out here and waste my life away / Drag back home and drown my troubles away.“

That’s a pretty good start to a Social Distortion-like punk song. It’s not far from The Clash’s “Career Opportunities” either.

“Livin’ in the new world / With an old soul / These rich men north of Richmond / Lord knows they all just wanna have total control / Wanna know what you think, wanna know what you do / And they don’t think you know, but I know that you do / ‘Cause your dollar ain’t shit and it’s taxed to no end / ‘Cause of rich men north of Richmond.”

Once again, big “Complete Control” or “Remote Control” vibes from The Clash….these are borderline punk lyrics. So for the republican party, which is supposed to be the “pick yourself up by the bootstraps” party, this is weak shit. Aren’t we called snowflakes over here for complaining and inferring that someone should step in and make changes? So far, I have personally no issue with what Oliver’s singing about. The man is clearly on the same page with me that this country needs improving. But I certainly take issue with how the right wing has co opted this song as their own.

I wish politicians would look out for miners / And not just minors on an island somewhere / Lord, we got folks in the street, ain’t got nothin’ to eat / And the obese milkin’ welfare.

Well, God, if you’re 5-foot-3 and you’re 300 pounds / Taxes ought not to pay for your bags of fudge rounds / Young men are puttin’ themselves six feet in the ground / ‘Cause all this damn country does is keep on kickin’ them down.

Alright, this is where he totally loses me though. A couple things to point out.

I have great sympathy for mining communities who have lost jobs, but mining coal is dead, and their governments failed them by refusing to give it up and invest in different economies of scale. It’s terrible for the environment, it’s terrible for the human’s who do it and die of black lung, and I’m not quite sure I get the Epstein reference here. We should be cool with young kids getting molested by billionaires? Neither the right or left side of this country should be cool with that?

I’ll admit it’s a clever lyric, and he might just have used it for that purpose alone. But then hold on, now we’re saying fat people are dragging the economy down? I’m all for ending obesity and encouraging people to get healthy. Trust me, I’m not pro-fat people stuffing fudge rounds down their throat. But to suggest that’s what is killing our economy via welfare? It sounds like you’re still waiting for that wealth to “trickle down” brother. Call me when it does, because welfare isn’t nearly as destructive as trickle down economics.

And then the line about kicking young men down is interesting. On one hand I agree that we have a male mental health crisis that’s getting out of hand. Men should not be ostracized until they kill themselves, but we do a lot of that to ourselves, I wouldn’t say our nation is doing that. It feels like he means this in more of an anti-woke way then in a pro-mental health way, though I’d certainly like to let him defend himself and his lyrics before condemning him further.

What’s The Point?

Here’s the thing, “Rich Men North Of Richmond” is walking a tightrope between snowflake-esque whining about how hard life is, and right wing pandering to how this country will “go woke, go broke”. It’s stupid. This song isn’t about picking yourself up and rebuilding your life, it’s about blaming politicians up in DC, most of whom on the right side want to actively keep men like Oliver Anthony poor and working for less pay so that their big industry can maximize profits. I can relate to some of his sentiments, but I think he’s leaning towards the wrong side here.

And hey, I’m assuming so much about him. For all I know, he could have written this as a pro-left statement, I really can’t speak for the man. But the way it has been taken by the right wing to rally Americans towards the good old days is just bullshit. It’s a weird situation, and in some ways this song is written as if a right wing country musician is trying to masquerade as a Clash/Woody Guthrie-loving performer but with an inverted message. That’s my two cents anyway, bring on the hate!