Writes Jay Caspian Kang in "A Close Listen to 'Rich Men North of Richmond' The viral country song by Oliver Anthony has been embraced by right-wing pundits" (The New Yorker).
Read the lyrics here (at Genius). Here's the song:
August 16, 2023
"The short time line around [Oliver] Anthony’s virality and the seemingly synchronized way in which right-wing pundits, such as Matt Walsh and Jack Posobiec, have tweeted enthusiastically..."
"... and almost apocalyptically about 'Rich Men North of Richmond' have turned the singer into a messianic or conspiratorial figure. Depending on your politics, he is either a voice sent from Heaven to express the anger of the white working class, or he is a wholly constructed viral creation who has arrived to serve up resentment with a thick, folksy lacquering of Americana.... Whether this gambit will work or if Anthony is in on the trick is anyone’s guess. He has said that his political views are 'pretty dead center,' and he does seem to rail against both Republicans and Democrats, but, until his big break last week, his songs were mostly apolitical small-town anthems that sounded like they were written with a fountain pen dipped in Merle Haggard’s ashes.... I should say here that I am not immune to these charms. When I first heard Townes Van Zandt, I felt that some truth had been revealed about how life can break and drag, but in a glamorous way.... The markers of authenticity—the wood-panelled kitchen, the woman who alternates between cleaning dishes and smoking a cigarette, the grizzled Black man who, himself, also stands in for authenticity—could be pulled apart and declared problematic by any freshman in a critical-studies class. But they also work...."
Writes Jay Caspian Kang in "A Close Listen to 'Rich Men North of Richmond' The viral country song by Oliver Anthony has been embraced by right-wing pundits" (The New Yorker).
Writes Jay Caspian Kang in "A Close Listen to 'Rich Men North of Richmond' The viral country song by Oliver Anthony has been embraced by right-wing pundits" (The New Yorker).
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121 comments:
Kevin Williamson! Call your office, you fat-assed pansy!
On Reddit and other places the overwhelming response to all claims of 'astroturfing' has been met by the refrain, "you mean the way you guys astroturf people like Lizzo?"
Progressives and their allies in Hollywood have been astroturfing the anonymous for damn near 70 years. Spare us.
1969: "The speed with which both Oh Happy Day and Spirit in the Sky reached number one on the Billboard charts this summer tells us that the subversive influence of evangelicals in this country is powerful enough and insidious enough to lead this generation into voting for a theocracy."
What's interesting is how quickly left-wing media outlets published essays and articles about how he's a right-wing darling and the dangers therein. That he has fans on the right is far less interesting.
The song reminded me of southern Civil War songs.
The whole hand wringing around this song is so weird. It's a good song..it feels right. Stop trying to make more of it than it is by making it's virality a conspiracy or writing about how inaccurate it is. So dumb, pundits.
And yeah, I'm willing to believe that things don't unintentionally go viral. Doesn't make the song any less good.
Just happened to base it around the capital of the Confederacy.
Could have chosen another city, but no, let's center it around the Lost Cause.
The New Yorker.. one the KEY Places, to learn about Country Music! Right up there with the NYTs
"to serve up resentment"
Been to the grocery store lately, Mr. Jay Caspian Kang? Gas station? How about those illegal aliens taking over Gotham?
Yeah, we've got plenty to be angry about thanks to the Democrat party and Joe Biden. Get a clue Mr. Jay Caspian Kang.
A fountain pen dipped in Merle Haggard's ashes? Wow. Hat tip.
Also, can Matt Walsh please go have a life offline for the sake of his immortal soul.
Bowdoin College (BA)
Columbia University (MFA)
Above is Jay Caspian Kang's education. Based.
I hear Oliver Anthony and think Barry McGuire.
Ann will remember.
If you lose your roof in a windstorm and these are your neighbors, who is likely to be show up? Who is more likely to have practical skills that can help the situation?
Donald Trump
Joe Biden
Nancy Pelosi
Oliver Anthony
He's not the Messiah but he's also not without skills. Instead of trying to explain to everyone why he is wrong, how about listening to the message and trying to do what you can to improve the situation?
I’m so old I remember when Leftists appreciated protest songs. Before the Leftists became the establishment they purported to be against. Now they are ALL Tipper Gore in extremis.
I like the song, but to me it sounds pretty much like any "old country" (as opposed to the new country which is pop with a twang) song decrying the exploitation and general neglect of the working class by the "elites." Haven't any of these people heard of Tennessee Ernie Ford?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRh0QiXyZSk
Funny how the Uniparty has denying its own existence as the prime directive. Dude has four songs in the top ten including one through three. I bet the rube doesn’t even drink Bud. But then neither does the ruling class so they are incapable of understanding real viral phenomena. This was encapsulated in the ruling class’s inability to deal with an actual virus and yet they still don’t get it.
It's many of the same themes that explored in hip-hop, punk, etc. Railing against the "man". We have to stop making everything about race and/or a political binary.
Or Johnny Cash?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEwSwQtSmDQ
Once upon a time, the left might have liked this. Now that they're The Man, sticking it to him is doubleplusungood.
The song has some good lines, except for being taxed no end. Half the population doesn't pay federal income taxes and enjoys a free lunch, or at least breakfast--one factor in the creeping fiscal crisis. The rich men north of Richmond know how to bribe the populace. They don't mind populist alienation--let the losers wallow in their loserdom and project their resentment on that losing loser Trump. It's how the ruling class rules.
“… either a voice sent from Heaven to express the anger of the white working class…”
I guess Jay thinks that only white people don’t like getting BS pay.
Dolly Parton?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x25l_c7wtD4
Lorretta Lynn?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoKThsOCjuU
I do not believe in "viral" videos. I believe that when something gets maximum exposure it is because someone wants it to be seen. I doubt this is didn't. Even if it's tapping into a strong feeling that doesn't see much expression in mainstream culture it's likely someone in a position to amplify this thought it to his benefit to do so.
Brad Smith
@CommishSmith
I'll say it: Rich Men North of Richmond is a mediocre song with mediocre lyrics that paint an unduly bleak picture of American life.
Steven F. Hayward
@stevenfhayward
Agree on the purely aesthetic qualities (but then I don't like Country music anyway), but the fact it became an overnight sensation ought to tell us something. . .
Lyle Sanford
@LyleSanford
It's "country" only in that old "high lonesome sound" way - and how speech patterns of working people of VA are mapped over bar lines is masterful - or simply mediocre if you don't feel that - different strokes . . .
So that's what all the fuss is about.
Music: B
Lyrics: B-
Delevery: B+
Overall; B
Funny how one doofus with a guitar and a whiny song can drive people around the bend.
Formerly known as Twitter: Rich men north of Richmond is the Acela Corridor, from northern VA to Massachusetts, wherein lies the greatest concentration of wealth in the US and perhaps in US history.
Trump was/is the only real existential threat to them.
If you are not obediently leftist Soviet Democratical - the hive will call you a "right wing"
Leftist Soviet Democratics sure are touchy touchy when they lose a drop of control over the narrative.
WTH does it mean to tweet 'almost apocalyptically'? Dial down the rhetoric please.
More from 1969, the year of Woodstock, written by a Canadian Jewish Mohawk living at the time not far from there.
Virgil Kane is the name
And I served on the Danville train
'Till Stoneman's cavalry came
And tore up the tracks again
In the winter of '65
We were hungry, just barely alive
By May the 10th, Richmond had fell
It's a time I remember, oh so well
The night they drove old Dixie down
And the bells were ringing
The night they drove old Dixie down
And the people were singing
They went, "Na, na, la, na, na, la"
Back with my wife in Tennessee
When one day she called to me
"Virgil, quick, come see,
There goes Robert E. Lee!"
Now, I don't mind chopping wood
And I don't care if the money's no good
You take what you need
And you leave the rest
But they should never
Have taken the very best
The night they drove old Dixie down
And the bells were ringing
The night they drove old Dixie down
And all the people were singing
They went, "Na, na, la, na, na, la"
Like my father before me
I will work the land
And like my brother above me
Who took a rebel stand
He was just 18, proud and brave
But a Yankee laid him in his grave
I swear by the mud below my feet
You can't raise a Kane back up
When he's in defeat
The night they drove old Dixie down
And the bells were ringing
The night they drove old Dixie down
And all the people were singing
They went, "Na, na, la, na, na, la"
The night they drove old Dixie down
And all the bells were ringing
The night they drove old Dixie down
And the people were singing
They went, "Na, na, la, na, na, la"
I hadn't actually listened to the song until now. It's pretty good. Kang is a complete wanker.
This song would have been a big hit during the Occutard movement.
But now, as someone above put it, liberals are now "the Man."
This song has been felt, written and performed a millions times over since the stone age. The fact some perceive it as some Barnum & Bailey circus act tells me how unattached people have become from the human experience.
Sad.
Play it backwoods to see what it’s really all about. I mean backwards.
He’s living the song in the actual country that the elites avoid. It’s baffling the overclass and those who think country music should be made in Nashville.
What makes Oliver a “doofus” in your opinion Narr?
If Anthony had any wit and sense of musical history, he'd affix a sign on his guitar that says "This machine kills fascists." Confusion and hilarity would ensue in the chattering classes.
Let's ask rich men north of Richmond what they think of "Rich Men North of Richmond".
The Establishment Press informs us, snarkily, that the red-hot social media raw-country phenomenon might just be a sneaky Establishment plant, working this cheap fame gig while hoping for a conventional, successful-musician life.
I didn't find the song particularly inspiring or well-done, and I found it a little grating. But I can see pretty easily how it could resonate, how somebody going through a hard time in this 'rough patch' economy might take some comfort and inspiration from it. The New Yorker: Not so much. They seem to be making a point of missing the point. What a pathetic excuse for know-nothing journalism, eh?
You gotta appreciate that “seemingly synchronized” blurt from the snob north of Richmond.
Note to Mark: try harder. If you’re the only one who hears the dog whistle then you are the racist. The Uniparty is nothing if not racially diverse. Uniformly stupid. But definitely racially diverse. Be better Lefty.
When you go to the Guardian for insights about conservatism, or the New York Times for discussions of Republicans, or The New Yorker for contemplation of populist country and western music -- you are going nowhere. Those sources are clueless about the trends that their editorial policies oppose. Their goal is to denigrate those subjects so their readers can handle another day of sharing the planet with us crazy rightwing whacko nutjobs. But they can be funny -- like that "revanchist ethos" line. LOL, but it took wading through a lot of garbaggio to get there.
The Biden's have millions and millions hidden from their bribe and grift Biden Inc. schemes.
The media (D-hack) don't care at all.
When you got nothin, you got nothin to lose.
Make him pretty dangerous doesn't it?
They hate us, they really, really hate us.
I find it interesting, though not surprising, that this song was found and took off to speak for people on the right, and has had the leftist narrative machine working furiously to catch up and declare the song to be weak and simple.
The left cannot see what's going on around this country, literally until it comes into their own homes, or steals their car, or slams them over the head as they're walking down the street of one of their favored cities. The right seems to see everything, everywhere, all at once- if I can be so cheap as to steal that movie title. (cheap steals is my specialty).
The right is focused on the big picture and is simultaneously seething and sad. Seething at the arrogance of those overseeing The Narrative. Sad at the state of our country. Seething again that our disintegration seems to be by design.
The song does nothing for me, personally. But I get why it's popular. And the more the left tells everyone not to listen to it, that it's pap- the more they will loudly sing along with it.
I haven't heard the song, more of a rock and roll guy, but I've heard the critcism from the left. I don't think they realize that black folk also live in the country. Thye also own farms and drive pick ups and shop at the Piggly Wiggly.
It feels like Jay and the new American "progressives" want this Oliver Anthony character to sit on the Group W Bench.
@Althouse, don’t think of it as a hit tune. Think of it as a fire alarm that is going off.
It's a solid, old school country song. Stands out because so much of today's pop-country is utterly formulaic both lyrically (the next songwriter who uses the words "sweet tea" should have to punch himself in the throat) and musically (top-40 country is where the sound of .38 Special went to live on in perpetuity).
One of the (many) revolting things about our current over-culture is that political criticism is the only way that artworks get talked about at all. This plague festered and mutated in the petri dishes of English departments in the 90s (particularly the not-smart-enough-to-specialize-in-a-period "Cultural Studies" grad students) until it was lab-leaked into the outside world when college freshmen spread the dumb ideas of their T.A.s back to their high school friends via social media.
I think at this point very few people--and about zero journalists--even think of talking about anything other than the ostensible politics in a film, book, or song.
I would like to see this epidemic burn itself out within my lifetime, but I'm not too optimistic: how long does it take to rebuild from a culture collapse?
Episode 1,885,789 of why liberals are miserable people
From several generations ago, when left wing labor unions had a positive reputation for fighting rich men:
...
I was born one morning when the sun didn't shine
I picked up my shovel and I walked to the mine
I loaded sixteen tons of number 9 coal
And the straw boss said, "Well-a bless my soul!"
[Chorus]
You load sixteen tons, what do you get?
Another day older and deeper in debt
Saint Peter don't you call me, 'cause I can't go
I owe my soul to the company store
...
https://genius.com/Tennessee-ernie-ford-sixteen-tons-lyrics
The political screw turns. Left is right and right is left.
Just happened to base it around the capital of the Confederacy.
Could have chosen another city, but no, let's center it around the Lost Cause.
Dude... seriously?
This is simply pathetic; don't you have any self-respect?
The New Yorker thinks the country starts at the East River and ends at the Hudson River. Screw them.
I usually rely on the New Yorker to explain country music to me. Whatever it says tells me to believe the opposite. Always reliable.
Mark said...
Just happened to base it around the capital of the Confederacy. Could have chosen another city, but no, let's center it around the Lost Cause.
He is from Virginia, and somehow "Rich Men North of Fredericksburg" just doesn't flow.
More from 1969, the year of Woodstock, written by a Canadian Jewish Mohawk living at the time not far from there.
John Carlson of KVI radio (Seattle), conservative talk show host, used this song as his Wednesday song of the week. He recites the lyrics from a song, and invites listeners to call in when the song is played during the show. Caller #10 wins a basket of goodies from show sponsors.
Mark said...
Just happened to base it around the capital of the Confederacy. Could have chosen another city, but no, let's center it around the Lost Cause.
He is from Virginia, and somehow "Rich Men North of Fredericksburg" just doesn't flow.
Mark said...
"Just happened to base it around the capital of the Confederacy. Could have chosen another city, but no, let's center it around the Lost Cause."
The modern version of the "Lost Cause" is completely owned by progressive liberals who wax rhapsodic for the Anteleges age before the Civil Rights era when the stereotypical white person in the South was an unrepentant racist Democrat.
Old and slow said...
"I hadn't actually listened to the song until now. It's pretty good. Kang is a complete wanker."
Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos.
Could have chosen another city, but no, let's center it around the Lost Cause.
I suppose but rich men north of Asheville wouldn’t rhyme.
Lem the misspeller said...
Formerly known as Twitter: Rich men north of Richmond is the Acela Corridor, from northern VA to Massachusetts, wherein lies the greatest concentration of wealth in the US and perhaps in US history.
Trump was/is the only real existential threat to them.
8/16/23, 9:03 AM
THIS!!!^^^^^
Don’t act surprised when a Scots Irish American reacts to his way of life being intentionally destroyed by politicians bought off by one World scum using American dollars laundered back from Ukraine and Red China. They aren’t educated in Marxist activism like Hillary and Obama but they instinctively know who their enemy is and they react to the threat.
Last time this happened it was a pamphlet by Thomas Paine.
Just happened to base it around the capital of the Confederacy.
No mystery here, Lefty Mark- he comes from Farmville, VA which is about 25 miles to the west of, wait for it.......Richmond.
However, please let us know which city in Virginia he should have used in the title and lyrics. We await your brilliant answer with much anticipation.
New Yorker:
"Anthony may very well be an industry plant sent to our social-media feeds to promote a nativist vision of this country, but, if a collection of right-wing Twitter accounts could boost any song to the top of the charts, Jack Posobiec would be the most powerful record executive in the country."
Neither the industry plant theory nor New Yorker's vague theory of a "conservative-media machine’s attempt to create their own gangster rap" seem credible, if one looks at the rest of the RadioWV YouTube channel where other similar works reside. The YouTube account has existed for years with an apparently consistent adherence to its stated mission "radiowv was created by two broke college students with passion for soulful and real music. We seen the vast array of talent within our region and wanted to create a platform in which we could share it with the world."
Mark said...
Just happened to base it around the capital of the Confederacy.
Could have chosen another city, but no, let's center it around the Lost Cause.
Mr. Anthony is wearing a Goochland t-shirt in the video. Both Goochland, VA and his hometown of Farmville, VA are about an hour away from Richmond.
An item from Mr. Anthony's neighborhood...
Goochland School Board member sues colleagues
https://richmond.com/news/local/education/goochland-school-board-member-sues-colleagues/article_7ffe21a6-3ae4-11ee-bf8d-673b0b2be45a.html
Angela Allen, the board’s vice chairwoman, said she was defamed by her colleagues, who publicly censured her after she made what she termed a “neutral” post on Facebook about the school division’s transgender student policies.
One of the previous commenters said Kang is a wanker. The fact that Kang is impressed by what a college freshman in a critical studies class might do to deconstruct the song is absolute proof that Kang is a wanker equal to Toobin.
It's a smash hit, zooming up the charts, number one with a miniball!
Also, the beard earns my respect.
In Virginia, the far north counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Prince William, Alexandria, and Louden are PACKED with rich men and women who work for the federal government, work as contractors, or serve as international diplomats. Those counties alone tilt Virginia into being a purple or bluish state.
So, technically it'd should be the "Rich men who work in DC."
Blogger Mark said...
Just happened to base it around the capital of the Confederacy.
Could have chosen another city, but no, let's center it around the Lost Cause.
Poor Lefty Mark. I'll bet he thinks Lincoln was a Democrat.
Even though Kang is a bit of a snot and I'd like to give him a good, swift kick in the balls; I will give him props for not saying that Oliver Anthony is from Appalachia like every other writer left or right has lately. Anthony is from Farmville, VA which is only 60 miles southwest of Richmond and definitely in the Piedmont.
I know that's a nit pick, but I had to get it off my chest.
Just happened to base it around the capital of the Confederacy.
Could have chosen another city, but no, let's center it around the Lost Cause.
He’s from Virginia. The way we pronounce “Richmond” the final ‘d’ is silent, making “rich men” and “Richmond” virtual homophones.
These are the same people, or the sons and daughters of the same people, who booed Bob Dylan when he played "Like a Rolling Stone" at Newport.
There are the same people, or the sons and daughters of the same people, who booed Bob Dylan when he played "Like a Rolling Stone" at Newport.
He picked Richmond because of the Confederacy and not because (1) of its location in regards to DC and the wealthy people who run it and (2) how "Richmond" sounds like "rich men"? (Study English literature and you'll see a long history of internal rhymes/near rhymes like that.) All of the "it's a Civil War reference" comments are some of the most low effort, doltish ones I've read. It's like you all heard/read one person you think is smart (perhaps they are, comparatively) who said something like this and all of you all are repeating it with no added thought. It's sad. And I'm feeling second-hand embarrassment for you whenever I read something like that.
I don't care for the song. It's not the kind of music I like, so I have no problem with others who dislike it. I would just appreciate it if you didn't dislike it for phony reasons.
Oliver Anthony has a few YouTubes out where he is just in his vehicle, talking about his life and his thoughts for a few minutes. Surprisingly articulate, very gentle. Seems to be something like a working class hippie-ish libertarian. He also went through a dark night of the soul for the past several years. More recently, he cried out to the God he didn't necessarily believe in and told Him that he was battling despair. Something like the next day, his song started to take off.
Based on what little we can tell at this point, he is not the knuckle-dragging MAGA oaf that The Narrative is trying to assert.
The Hilariously Moronic Mark: "Just happened to base it around the capital of the Confederacy.
Could have chosen another city, but no, let's center it around the Lost Cause."
LOL
The Virginia dude dared, DARED, to base his song around where he lives!
Racist!
Why couldn't it have been "Rich Men Far To The East And On The Other Side Of The Mississippi From Albuquerque"?!
That one just flows like butter!
Diversity politics.
I suppose but rich men north of Asheville wouldn’t rhyme.
Ash-holes north of Asheville?
BillieBob Thorton said...
They hate us, they really, really hate us.
Yeah they do.
Isn't it great, Billie Bob ?
If we weren't getting to the fascists, they wouldn't pay any attention
John Henry
Are they aware of, in the southern rock genre, Creedence Clearwater Rival?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWijx_AgPiA
Make that Revival
Well he's a lot like Townes Van Zandt in that his voice sucks and he can't sing. (Not necessarily the same thing--some people with crappy voices are good singers).
D.C. is north of Richmond, Mark. Which I imagine is the point. But go ahead, keep flogging that racism horse. Poor things almost dead already.
I was more intern his shirt.
Anyway, I’m glad he’s doing well w/his song.
"Richmond was the capital of the Confederacy" must be making the rounds on the lefty blogs.
“Formerly known as Twitter: Rich men north of Richmond is the Acela Corridor, from northern VA to Massachusetts, wherein lies the greatest concentration of wealth in the US and perhaps in US history.
Trump was/is the only real existential threat to them.”
I guess you missed the song’s subtle dig at Donald Trump.
I just thought the guy has a doofy vibe, like the songwriting kid at the HS talent show. It's an OK genre song.
The rich men/Richmond rhyme depends on the way vowels melt in the Southern sun.
Rich men north of Richmond….the deep blue Acela Corridor. It hit me right between my eyes.i
It's amazing how many of the cultural and music critics I'd never heard of before a link from Althouse for whichever reason. I need lend any credence to their opinion why?
OTOH, some people find anything short of "Ode to The Lightbringer" akin to the Horst Wessel Lied.
"Oh, what’ll you do now, my blue-eyed son?"
"Just happened to base it around the capital of the Confederacy.
Could have chosen another city, but no, let's center it around the Lost Cause."
Where are the richest counties with highest median incomes in America located?
Hint: they are above Richmond and next to Washington DC.
Nothing to do with the Civil War.
Somewhat on topic: I just went grocery shopping for the first time in a long time (my wife usually does it). Bought a shopping cart full. HOLY CRAP is food ever expensive! Bidenomics. Rich men north of Richmond indeed.
First time I heard the song I thought that it sounded just like Bruce Springsteen (at least lyrically).
MB said...
"He picked Richmond because of the Confederacy and not because (1) of its location in regards to DC and the wealthy people who run it and (2) how "Richmond" sounds like "rich men"? (Study English literature and you'll see a long history of internal rhymes/near rhymes like that.) All of the "it's a Civil War reference""
Actually, I don't hear anything in the song that supports the premise that it's referencing the Civil War. It's a song about a contemporary, working class, person railing against the rich and powerful. (Who happen to live north of Richmond these days.)
"right-wing pundits, such as Matt Walsh"
I call bullshit. Matt Walsh is a Libertarian, not right-wing.
The Left, should read up on history. Louis XVII tried FOUR TIMES to convince the Nobles that they needed to pay taxes lest France devolve into chaos, because the peasants, who were living in abject poverty could see they were getting fucked and as such, were becoming ever more restless. And four times the Nobles vetoed his ruling that they do so. History tells us the Nobles never got a fifth chance. I'm starting to see parallels here in America.
JT Neel said...
“The song reminded me of southern Civil War songs.“
So that’s why South lost the war?
“The whole hand wringing around this song is so weird. It's a good song..it feels right. Stop trying to make more of it than it is by making it's virality a conspiracy or writing about how inaccurate it is. So dumb, pundits.”
I think that many here may be missing what is going on here. This song pushed another song that could also be classified as a right wing protest song out of #1. The left is at war with us. Much of it is cultural. Shoving transsexuals down our throats, with men allowed in previously female only safe places, etc, just because they can. The Roman Catholic Church investigated by the FBI because of their resistance to abortion, locking up the peaceful 1/6 protesters in deplorable conditions, while ignoring AntiFA and the organized looting in CA, the NE, and Chicago. 4 BS prosecutions of Trump now for refusing to roll over and admit that FJB won legitimately.
We have learned that we can fight back with boycotts - Bud Light and now Target are successes. There have already been announcements that they will be taught this fall in marketing classes as what not to do with your brand. We have a burgeoning counter culture. It is anti-elite, and to the extent that Republican politicians can jump on board, they will mostly benefit.
But one big place that we hadn’t seen it, was in popular music. That is rapidly changing. Just like the ability to kill brands and companies through boycotts, we are discovering that we can quickly take songs to #1 by supporting them. I don’t think that this was a flash in the pan, but rather a harbinger of the future. MSM, Google, FB, etc, have spent much of their efforts the last several years suppressing the speech of the right. It hasn’t worked - most of us here know that the 2020 and 2022 elections were stolen (and how), that the Biden family was bought by China and Ukraine, that Dems are trying their hardest to destroy traditional American values (to help destroy this country for their Chinese paymasters?), our military is in the worst shape it has seen since Vietnam, etc. Protest music will be very hard to stop, which I think means that it will flourish, as a means of coming together to protest our feckless and nonpatriotic elites. It is going to be harder to stop than what they faced with Vietnam protests, because of major advances in technology. I fully expect many more protest songs before this is over.
Blogger Mark said...
Just happened to base it around the capital of the Confederacy.
Could have chosen another city, but no, let's center it around the Lost Cause.
This is what some current students would call an "ultimate gamma tell."
Although the whole Greek-letter "socio-sexual hierarchy" thing is mostly self-affirming gibberish, there really is something to identifying a particular cluster of annoying personality/communication traits and calling it "gamma."
Jumping on the fact that Richmond was the capital of the Confederacy (which isn't exactly a surprise to anyone educated before 2000) is just a classic case of "look at me I'm such a smart boy!" and "HaHaHa! I have destroyed your argument with my killer observation" that turns out to be shallow and fundamentally irrelevant.
(Bet you 50 cents that it's not an original observation, either, but a rapid recycle of a talking point).
But then again, these first-name-only comment personae exist only to throw sand in the gears (which is why they're so cheap to hire, if they get paid at all).
Hmmm...is this the new anthem of the J6 demonstrators?
It didn't need to be like this. We were doing pretty well during the Trump years until COVID hit. Trump wasn't ready for that, and his improvisational style and practice steered his presidency right on the rocks. He got chased out (where did all those votes come from?) and the Environmental Junior Woodchucks at the EPA, the FDA, etc. got regulatory control of the economy with the grinning acquiescence of President Hair Sniffs. So miners did get put out of work, and our borders are open. But somehow, the rich men north of Richmond are doing just fine.
"Leftist Soviet Democratics"
No such creatures, a possible bare handful excepted, (depending on how loose wants to be with the meanings of words).
Oliver Anthony is no Waylon Jennings.
However, like Waylon, he captures emotional issues and rails against the establishment. In Waylon's case, it was the Nashville-NYC establishment that controlled country music. In Anthony's case, it is the elites who control our country.
Headline: "Oliver Anthony: Threat or Menace?"
Four chords, an authentic emotional delivery through a powerful voice, a universal grievance, this is a well-crafted and delivered song that is part of a long-storied genre of Americana folk music. This song resonates.
Breaking it down intellectually or (worse) politically misses the forest for the trees. Many people feel like Oliver all of the time; most people feel some of this way some of the time. You see this in the reaction videos -- not of the political commentariat -- but of music lovers whether they typically prefer rap, rock, country, or pop; whether they are men or women, black or white, American or not.
That pain and frustration is real. The song presents it raw. Because if you sing "I'm a bit of a mess, but I have a strong sense that justice is based on just desserts, and when I look at the outcomes there isn't a correlation, and when I look at the policies, they are working against those doing the right thing" doesn't ring like "Overtime hours for bullshit pay."
Ron Winkleheimer said...
Are they aware of, in the southern rock genre, Creedence Clearwater Rival?
That southern rock band from Northern California?
Mark - I try never to engage you trolls, but I can't help myself this time. FUCK OFF.
There's a decent tradition in country music involving song writers who can tell a story. Anthony Oliver's voice is not that good, his style could use some adjustment etc. But he can tell a story.
The writer of the original load of codswallop that our host presented talks about "stirring the ashes" of a Merle Haggard song. Well Bob Dylan won a Nobel Prize for his lyrics as a
"contribution to literature". If you looked at what Haggard wrote over his lifetime, he's also made a significant contribution to literature.
Fiftyfive years ago Tom T. Hall (another "storyteller") wrote Harper Valley PTA--a song about a young widow challenging the doyennes of the PTA and School Board about their views of her short skirts, friendliness to local men etc. Hall is dead now, but I wonder what he would write about today's school boards pushing critical race theory, the 1619 project, and all of the LGHTQQQtrans mania down the kids and parents throats?
Well of course the rich men north of Richmond (and their progressive allies) are going to hate the song like vampires hate garlic. Dog bites man here.
Someone said Trump is a threat to those "men north of richmond" and I'm cracking up.
Dude was President for 4 years and presided over the worst authoritarian lockdowns the country has ever seen.
Yeah, he's a total threat.
If it weren't for leftist reaction- I'd have never heard of the song. Their outraged reaction caused right wing pundits who might never have heard the song to write about and thereby promote.
IIRC- that's the Streisand effect, isn't it? Could be one of the other named effects since the internet age started.
I still haven't heard it. And- not going to hunt it down. If Amazon adds it to my playlist then I'll hear it. Used to be able to downvote songs and never hear them again. They did away with that option- so anytime a male singer come on I have to hit skip. So if it does come on- I'll probably hit skip before I see who it is.
Why is this a "white" working class anthem? Is there anything in the lyrics about race? Is there anything that doesn't apply to a working person who's Black or Brown?
Now that you make me think about it, doesn't the media portray a lot of recent events in a way that tries to separate the Black/Brown working class from the White working class? If ALL working class people -- Black, Brown, and White -- joined together, wouldn't that worry The Establishment? And aren't the "Rich Men North of Richmond" the Establishment? What's the next big city north of Richmond? Washington DC.
"Why is this a "white" working class anthem? Is there anything in the lyrics about race?"
It's all they think about. I turned on NPR this morning while driving to the store. Story was about black, brown, and hispanic interest in EV cars compared to whites. Race meets climate change.
Click.
Actually, I don't hear anything in the song that supports the premise that it's referencing the Civil War. It's a song about a contemporary, working class, person railing against the rich and powerful. (Who happen to live north of Richmond these days.)
8/16/23, 1:30 PM
I don't hear it either, but for some people, mentioning Richmond is enough. It was one of the capitals of the Confederacy so no one is allowed to talk about it in any other way from now until eternity. (Or something insane like that.)
When I see the "it's about the Civil War, hurrr, durrr" comments, I think of the tag that comes with an iron and says not to iron clothes on the body. These are the people those warnings are made for.
My taste in music runs more toward Metallica's Thunderstruck on bagpipes and bucket drums so I have no dog in this fight, but hey, `
I think this Mark is the same one that befouls numerous comment sections at Instapundit: a sentence or two that is supposed to serve as some kind of register on conservative hypocrisy.
R.e. Mention of the Civil War…
It seems to be, by observation of media, pundits, talking heads as well as anecdotal evidence, it’s the North (sic) that is still trying to fight it.
"Dude was President for 4 years and presided over the worst authoritarian lockdowns the country has ever seen."
You realize that it was state governors that were responsible for those lockdowns, right?
One of the Mumford & Sons guys rips Rolling Stone about their article on Anthony. Very good read.
I live about 15 miles SE of Richmond, and I know exactly what Oliver Anthony is singing about. Most of my friends are not college educated, white collar workers. They see the events that are happening, and get MAD. These people want something to happen.
I know this is blasphemy, but most of my friends think the 2022 election was a joke. They KNOW the democrats stole it.
They call I-95 the "Yankee Highway." I am a transplant, from all over the world (military brat).
These days, Richmond is a Progressive enclave. It is surrounded by suburban counties that shift loyalties.
Good luck, everybody.
You have to listen to it more than once to appreciate it. He’s in the woods in the back of his house no back up no percussion no echo chamber basically no nothing.
Somebody above referenced The Band. This guy sounds a lot like a pissed off Levon Helm. The studio recording with a mandolin may be a violin and a keyboard or two this song would be much more powerful. His voice resonates. If he can avoid being overwhelmed, he can have a real career. Unlike The Band, he has very little experience but in the right professional hands he will flourish.
"the seemingly synchronized way in which right-wing pundits, such as Matt Walsh and Jack Posobiec, have tweeted enthusiastically"
Wow! person X sees something, then tweets about it. Then person Y sees person' X's tweet, and looks at that thing, then tweets about it! it must be a conspiracy!!11!
What the holy fuck?
Talk about "projection". Seriously, then only way someone could write something that deraganed is if he has personally been part of such a conspiracy, and therefore thinks that everyone else must be doing it, too
Mark said...
Just happened to base it around the capital of the Confederacy.
Could have chosen another city, but no, let's center it around the Lost Cause.
Just when you think the stupid can't get any worse, lefty Mark steps in. Here, moron, let me remind you of the title:
Rich Men North of Richmond
Not "in' Richmond, nut "North" of Richmond.
Gee, I wonder if there's a "capitol" "north" of Richmond full of rich men who have obtained their wealth either by corruption, or just be screwing over their fellow Americans?
The singer lives in Virginia. Exactly what reference point SHOULD he use, or desperate lunatic?
"Seriously, then only way someone could write something that deraganed is if he has personally been part of such a conspiracy, and therefore thinks that everyone else must be doing it, too"
That's the way it goes with progressives. They won't say it out loud, but they know what shitty people they are and they think everybody else is just like them.
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