2023 in review: the story of 'Rich Men North of Richmond'

In the summer of 2023, Virginia singer Oliver Anthony went from being an unknown indie artist to a viral internet sensation and a chart-topping star. His song, 'Rich Men North of Richmond', has some powerful political messages. They generated a lot of love... but also a lot of concern.

The song called Rich Men North of Richmond is the first professionally recorded song by Oliver Anthony, a former factory worker who resides with his three dogs and a plot of land he wants to turn into a farm. In less than two weeks, it garnered 30 million views. His other released tracks were recorded on his phone.

According to the song’s description, put out by RadioWV in Virginia, Oliver intends for the song to give hope to the working class and the “average hard-working young man who may have lost hope in the grind of trying to get by.” In another video, he said he falls in the center political…. So why is this being hailed and criticized as “a conservative anthem?”

Image: Oliver Anthony - Rich Men North Of Richmond/ Radiowv / Youtube

The song begins: "I've been sellin' my soul, workin' all day/ Overtime hours for bull s++ pay / So I can sit out here and waste my life away / Drag back home and drown my troubles away / It's a d@m shame what the world's gotten to / For people like me and people like you."

Image: Residents of Boone County, West Virginia watch a march commemorating a miners' uprising

That sounds like a message from the lips of American protest singers like Woody Guthrie (pictured). Indeed, in the US, income and wealth inequality is higher in the United States than in almost any other developed country. The middle class has been eroding, and high-school graduates without college, like Oliver, have seen their share of wealth drop 26 percentage points from 1971 to 2021, according to Pew.

The lyrics then continue to say how “rich men north of Richmond,” a city in Virginia, “just wanna have total control/ wanna know what you think, wanna know what you do.” With that, he seems to be referring to federal politicians in Washington D.C. or the elites north of the United States. It’s also interesting to note that Richmond was the capital of the Confederacy during the American Civil War.

Image: Oliver Anthony - Rich Men North Of Richmond / Radiowv / Youtube

His song also resonates by describing the crisis of deaths of despair, which particularly affect white men in America without college degrees. According to a 2020 book, these deaths are the fastest-rising cause of death among Americans, averaging 70,000 per year. Oliver Anthony has also said he was severely injured while working in a factory job and struggled with addiction.

Later lyrics more clearly reflect why the hit song has become so divisive. One lyric says: "Cause your dollar ain’t s… and it's taxed to no end." While the song doesn't get into tax rates, a recent study by White House economist found that the 400 wealthiest families in the US paid a comprehensive tax rate of 8.2%, while median-wage workers without children paid an average of 12.3%.

He also slams "obese milkin' welfare" recipients, for 'getting paid while hard workers go hungry.'
"Well, God, if you're 5-foot-3 and you're 300 pounds / Taxes ought not to pay for your bags of fudge rounds," he sings passionately. Besides Northern elites, he presents 'the lazy' as the enemy.

Critics say that the criticism of welfare recipients, a trope often used by right-wing politicians, is targeting the weakest in society. This is commonly done by groups losing their grip on power. "We can all agree that politicians have caused many of America’s problems; it’s harder to argue that our country is being destroyed by short, overweight chocolate enthusiasts," writes Matthew Cantor in the Guardian, questioning the jabs at those on food stamps.

Image: 'In Color' Cover Feat. Jamey Johnson, Oliver Anthony Music / Youtube

Among the 120,000 comments on the Youtube video, hundreds express feeling for those points, however.
"I’m a welder/fabricator and I feel like my body is wearing down faster then it should... feels like I’m selling my health to keep my head above water. I don’t need to be rich, I just want to be comfortable.. hard to get where I want to be when my own lungs are getting taxed for breathing," wrote one user.
"I spend 70 hours of every week hauling sand and rock out of the quarries, trying to live within my means. In 3 minutes I feel like I have 25 million people by my side. Thank you sir," wrote another.

Image: Oliver Anthony concert Aug. 19, 2023

And in what is perhaps the strangest part of the song, Oliver Anthony sings about human trafficking which, in another video, he said was "becoming normalized... But I’ll just leave it at that," he quickly added.
The lyric is: "I wish politicians would look out for miners, and not just minors on an island somewhere," referring to Jeffery Epstein’s island.

Image: Epstein’s former home on a private Caribbean island

While human trafficking does exist and Epstein was a member of the US elite accused of widespread human trafficking of minors, the gist of his lyric resembles a key point of the QAnon conspiracy theory. According to the Washington Post, QAnon believers often cite Epstein as proof that a global cabal of elites has been trafficking children. A 2022 PRRI survey found that 16% of Americans believed in QAnon. Similarly, the movie ‘Sound of Freedom’ also focused on human trafficking and found massive popularity in the summer of 2023.

Conspiracy theory expert Mike Rothschild said this reference suggests he’s been consuming this content and that this lyric would be significant for Qanon followers. “The people who do know… it’s the only thing they care about,” he told the Washington Post. Others have pointed out that Anthony has recommended other conspiracy-theory-linked videos on Youtube.

Despite his claimed political neutrality, several right-wing politicians quickly elevated the song as an anthem for its time. Of the many prominent figures, far-right Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene called it “the anthem of the forgotten Americans who truly support this nation.”

In response to his popularity, Variety ran an article asking whether or not he was ‘a plant’ by the far right. "Some have accused him of being an industry plant, an artist who presents as independent but is secretly backed by rich and powerful insiders. Others have speculated that 'Rich Men' was the product of 'astroturfing,' a coordinated marketing or PR campaign pretending to be a grass-roots movement," wrote the Washington Post.

Image: In Color Cover, Oliver Anthony Music / Youtube

While the song quickly became dubbed “a conservative anthem,” Democratic Senator Chris Murphy tweeted:
“a. I think progressives should listen to this. In part, bc it’s just a good tune. b. But also bc it shows the path of realignment. Anthony sings about the soullessness of work, shit wages and the power of the elites. All problems the left has better solutions to than the right.”

Other pundits say it’s important to understand Oliver’s message because he represents part of the working class that is struggling financially and mentally (with drugs, depression, etc) and politically powerful. In a New York Times/Siena College poll published in September 2022, 59% of white working-class voters said Republicans were the party of the working class, versus 28% who chose Democrats.

English singer/songwriter and activist Billy Bragg was so moved by the track that he released a similarly-tuned response. It acknowledges worker exploitation, but instead of blaming the elite or those on welfare, he argues for collective labor action, more taxes for the rich, and free healthcare.
“The ghost of Woody Guthrie has been whispering in my ear: ‘Help that guy out,'" Bragg writes in the song description. "Woody keeps telling me ‘Let him know there's a way to deal with those problems he's singing about.’”

One of today's leading philosophers also weighed in. He wrote this kind of protest song ultimately benefits the rich because it portrays the enemies as the elite politicians and the lazy, which benefits the ultra-wealthy capitalist class... just as other so-called "culture war" ideas on the political left can be used to "avoid confronting the perverted logic of global capitalism." Ultimately, he argues that this song will be loved by billionaires because "even a downtrodden proletarian struggling for social justice takes their side."

In one song, ‘Doggon It,’ the lyrics make it clear that Oliver is not a Republican talking head but instead a passionate singer with grievances that reach across the divide.
“And Republicans and Democrats/ Lord I swear they’re all just full of c.../ I aint never seen a good city slickin’ bureaucrat,” he sings.
On other tracks, he also talks about smoking weed - not typically part of the Republican package.

Image: 'Doggon It,' Oliver Anthony Music / Youtube

Don Cusic, a professor of music industry history at Belmont University, told Washington Post that the millions of people who are embracing the song do not necessarily agree with the politics but simply appreciate the music. The raw emotion in his voice, the paired-down blue-grass Appalachian folk song, filmed in the woods where he's playing to his dogs, compared to heavily produced pop music: it's a refreshing outlier.

Meanwhile, Oliver is going beyond the narrative that the song is dividing the nation or even that it’s 'a masterpiece' he’s created. "The masterpiece and the emotions of the song already exist within you, sometimes it just takes the right song comin' along to let those out," he said in a follow-up Youtube video.

Image: Moving Forward, Oliver Anthony Music / Youtube

"My question to you is… what can you do in your own life to maintain this positivity, this unity that I see like I’ve never seen before. What are the next steps to make life better for people? What can you do for your neighbor?” he continued.

Image: Comments on 'Rich Men North Of Richmond,' posted by radiowv / YouTube

He goes on to say that, relative to history, “we have everything” we could ever want in terms of comfort, “but we still want to hate each other.” He urges his audience to use the “frustration” and “energy” that is so apparent around this sentiment to help others and connect with people “you wouldn’t normally connect with.”
“We’re all so disconnected from each other, we need to find a way to take the energy around this anomaly of the song… and start fixing problems and start having good conversations. That’s all I want out of this.”

Still grappling with incredible levels of fame, Anthony said he has turned down $8 million record deals and doesn't want big tours or to sing in stadiums. "I wrote the music I wrote because I was suffering with mental health and depression. These songs have connected with millions of people on such a deep level because they’re being sung by someone feeling the words in the very moment they were being sung. No editing, no agent, no bull... Just some idiot and his guitar. The style of music that we should have never gotten away from in the first place," he wrote on Facebook.

Image: 'I've Got to Get Sober,' Oliver Anthony Music / Youtube