“Rich Men North of Richmond”, Oliver Anthony’s anthem for the blue collar worker, has surged to the No. 1 position on the Apple Music global charts and is poised to take the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 as well.
The song “has gained mass notoriety for its 'bone-chilling' portrayal of life for the 'average man' in the United States,” the Daily Mail’s Hope Sloop noted.
The Federalist’s Samuel Mangold-Lenett said Anthony’s hit “provides a haunting, bittersweet lamentation for an America that existed not too long ago but may never exist again.”
The lyrics are in part about the agony people across America are enduring.
I’ve been selling my soul / Working all day / Overtime hours, for bullsh-t pay / So I can sit out here, and waste my life away / Drag back home, and drown my troubles away
The wealthy elites, the rich men north of Richmond, Virginia, are not only insulated from that agony but have anointed themselves to make decisions that affect the rest of Americans’ lives.
These rich men north of Richmond / Lord knows they all just want to 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
Anthony said: “I want to be a voice for those people. And not just them, but humans in general. As long as you're above the dirt, you've got a fightin' chance.”
Not surprisingly, the Left hates it.
Zero Hedge noted: “Leftists across America have been triggered. That's probably not going to come as a shock to anyone, but the establishment media and woke social media response to Oliver Anthony's gritty coal country ballad 'Rich Men North Of Richmond' is less than enthusiastic. Much like their reaction to Jason Aldean's 'Try That In A Small Town' which blew up the charts in the face of heavy media backlash, 'Rich Men North Of Richmond' is being derided as a ‘right wing anthem’ laced with ‘conspiracy theories.’
“The political left often brags about their loyalty to the working class, but like all communists, they see the working class as a tool to be exploited, not a valuable pillar of society that needs to be saved. As soon as working men speak up in a way that runs contrary to the narrative, leftists seek to slap them back down again.”
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Anthony’s song also touches on human trafficking of children and even alludes to late billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and his island.
“I wish politicians looked out for minors and not just minors on an island,” Anthony sings.
Ron Hart of the Orange County Register noted in an Aug. 17 op-ed: “Jeffrey Epstein’s island hosted many Rich Men North of Richmond. The Epstein jet passenger manifests and island guest logs remain the only secure documents in Washington D.C.”
Sloop wrote: “The tune has been adopted as the 'working class anthem' by many conservatives while some progressives have remained skeptical due to its lyrics.”
Hart added: “You cannot help but hear the authenticity of Oliver Anthony’s ‘Rich Men North of Richmond’ as a cry for help from average Americans. It has a Woody Guthrie tone. It speaks to the angst of Middle America and of the hardworking people who built this country, fought our wars, fix our cars, pay taxes, etc.
“As if on cue, the left maligns the song as they did Jason Aldean’s “Try That in a Small Town.” The left responds, as it always does: When confronted with reality, they will probably fund a Special Counsel to go after Anthony.”
“Rich Men North of Richmond” was viewed over 18 million times in one week on YouTube. On Spotify, the song has captured nearly 6 million listens in just five days.
“There’s a lot of beautiful people in this world, and I meet a lot of awesome people every day,” said Anthony. “The universal thing I see is that it’s like no matter how hard they push and how much effort they put into whatever it is they’re doing, they just can’t quite get ahead.”
Anthony said he has been overwhelmed by how the song has skyrocketed in the charts. He said in a Facebook post that he is ‘so thankful” for the support and is working on new music and shows.
“I'm working on getting gigs scheduled and will post a calendar when it's available,” he said.
Free Press International
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