Cutting to the chase: It’s ridiculous that this standard issue country ballad is a culture war battlefield. Anyone who took the time to watch Ken Burns’ documentary on the genre will immediately recognize the themes, though Anthony’s blue collar anthem is a bit more whiny than most. Jeez, man, stop bitching and do something about it: that’s the American way! Though I guess he is, by exploiting the politicization of everything today to make a lot of money with a song that doesn’t offer anything new or original, just the familiar “Those rich politicians up North don’t care about us hard-working folks, so life is a struggle and it ain’t getting any better.”
Well, I’d rather listen to this than “Imagine.”
Here are the lyrics:
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
It’s a damn shame what the world’s gotten to
For people like me and people like you
Wish I could just wake up and it not be true
But it is, oh, it is
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
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
Lord, it’s a damn shame what the world’s gotten to
For people like me and people like you
Wish I could just wake up and it not be true
But it is, oh, it is
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
I’ve been sellin’ my soul, workin’ all day
Overtime hours for bullshit pay…
Ethics Alarms 
Hilarious that lefties are completely enamored of “authentic” music (world music used to be a thing) if it’s from somewhere, anywhere, other than somewhere actually within the United States. I guess American folk music is only acceptable if it has a Marxist undercurrent. If it’s authentic American music of the people, it’s deplorable, unless it’s rap music, of course.
Ugh. The lyrics are simply awful. I bet that singer guy has never worked a day in his life.
jvb
He’s from Farmville, VA and lives on a small plot of land that he’d like to raise livestock on, with his three dogs. He wrote the song while a factory worker in NC.
Oh. I withdraw my comment. I still hate the lyrics, though.
jvb
Someone wrote that his “minor/miner” bit, apparently alluding to Epstein’s island, was funny, or clever.
Noel Coward he isn’t.
I like the song. It is quite catchy and gets stuck in your head.
Stop bitching and do something might be the American way, but regulations and red tape have definitely changed the ability to actually do a lot of things. Money printing, lockdowns and globalization haven’t exactly made entrepreneurship easy. Who is in charge of those things? Rich men north of Richmond.
Underclasses can always sing, even if they have to do so out of earshot of their betters.
I got the point. That’s all that matters if the lyrics aren’t poetic and the tune is recycled. Much ado about nuttin – I didn’t see anyone melt down. The Aldean number, Try That In A Small Town? Now that’s a song (!) that I hope chapped some blue asses.
“When you see that trading is done, not by consent, but by compulsion – when you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing – when you see that money is flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favors – when you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work, and your laws don’t protect you against them, but protect them against you – when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice – you may know that your society is doomed.”
Ayn Rand
I saw this in my YouTube feed a few weeks ago and thought nothing of it. I clicked on it and saw nothing special, thought nothing of it.
Imagine if the people complaining about this discover Tom MacDonald. MacDonald and several other ‘conservative’ musicians have figured out that rap is the way to go. You can’t be censored if you are a rap artist or they have to censor ALL the big rap artists. I mean, didn’t Eminem sing about murdering his mom?
I am 70 yrs old, and have hated “Rap” music since it first came out. I am ALSO a huge Tom MacDonald fan.
He puts out biting social commentary in the vein of Shapiro, Tucker, Walsh, etc., but in a form that young adults can’t just “turn off” and ignore. You can imagine how much Progressivism and Wokeness would love to shut him down, but he is an entirely “self contained” unit. No record labels, producers, production companies, or distributors, he does it ALL himself.
Force yourself if you have to, but give him a listen. He has a lot of songs, and their content has something for everyone.
Well, country music in general isn’t my cup of Bud Light (with the exception of some bluegrass), but he’s using a dobro, so 3 points for that.
Then there are things like this, with a Dylan opening: https://youtu.be/HBchkGYtSK0
Posting on behalf of my hubby, who wanted to comment but isn’t able to get to a computer to create an account needed to comment. I’m encouraging him to do so! 😀
Hey Jack – long-time fan, first time poster.
I must take issue with your review of Oliver Anthony, & I think it primarily stems from misclassification. This is not a country ballad (despite his twang) – this song is Blues (& a touch of folk), & that changes everything.
But before I get to that, here’s a question:
name a viral artist (of any genre) who put *Epstein Island* in their lyrics?
Perhaps Kanye has in a manic phase, but other than that: zero.
This matters because even country singers like Jason Aldean belong to massive corporations (his is a sub-sub-sub-subsidiary of German company “Bertelsmann Stiftung”); his corporate masters would never allow Epstein Island to be mentioned, because well… that might upset their friends who are on the flight logs.
This makes artists like Aldean (who didn’t even write the damn “Small Town” song) corporate monkeys, content with the length of their leashes.
So already, Anthony has more balls & freedom of expression than any artist since Ricky Gervais called out Epstein’s pals to their faces in the Golden Globes.
Now, why it matters that this is a Blues song: Blues music is simplistic & raw, & meant to tackle the biggest issues in life *with emotion* – as Jimi Hendrix said, “the Blues are easy to play, but hard to feel.”
Let’s go over why Anthony successfully “feels” in this song – & why it resonated with conservatives. Despite what the media says, the focus shouldn’t be on his aside about Welfare abusers.
Let’s start with the classic Blues trope of “funny wordplay mixed with tragic subject matter” when he says
“I wish politicians would look out for miners, and not just minors on an island somewhere”
This cuts to the notorious “Learn to Code” abuse spewed at the working class (for those who don’t recall, when miners were being laid off in droves, many journalists smugly looked down at the unwashed and said they should’ve “learned to code”).
This – and the policies that have led to our epidemic of the homeless (especially our Veterans) tie into the deeper problem: the systematic cultural abuse of men for the last 20+ years.
Men went from “dumb dad in sitcoms” to “always the idiot in commercials” to “every man who pushes back is toxic” to “any man who endeavors to succeed or conquer is toxic, racist/fascist/misogynist & must be destroyed”
And this may be foreign to those of us who missed the latest wave, but there is an epidemic of men killing themselves – slowly via drugs and booze, joining gangs, or literal suicide – as they are told they have no place in this world… and those who aren’t killing themselves are cutting off their genitals in a desperate attempt to escape the horrors of “maleness” & be accepted by society.
Or as Anthony said:
“Young men are putting themselves 6 feet in the ground, ‘cause all this damn country does is keep kicking them down.”
This is Blues, tackling brutal truths in simplistic form – not *whining*. Nothing he said is untrue or unwarranted. It is a protest – it’s just disorienting to see a White person (legitimately) calling out the system for its abuse.
If you constitute “Rich Men North of Richmond” as whining & suggest he “do something” (remembering he’s brand new to the public eye) then I must insist you apply the same description to Billie Holliday’s rendition of “Strange Fruit” & Blind Blake’s “Police Dog Blues”.
I won’t lie, my throat swelled up at the lines about how hard the life has become for those “living in the new world with an old soul” – it’s a line that will resonate for decades, & also captures the feelings of millions today.
Not sure if I’m stuck in moderation or just slipped through the cracks. 😀
Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone
No, it just took a while, for some reason….