Is Oliver Anthony, the country-folk singer-songwriter who seemingly came out of nowhere and became an overnight sensation with his blue-collar anthem both punching up (the US capital is north of Richmond > aiming at the DC elites) as well as down (> “the obese milkin’ welfare”) really just an authentic working class hero from Virginia?
It is certainly enlightening to see how right-wing pundits have helped the song go viral in record time, sparking questions over astroturfing…
“What’s known about Anthony, who has a minimal news or paper trail up to this point, comes largely through a YouTube monologue he put up a few days before releasing “Rich Men.” In that speech, he declares himself nonpartisan: “I sit pretty dead center down the aisle on politics and, always have,” Anthony says, facing the camera from behind the wheel. “I remember as a kid the conservatives wanting war, and me not understanding that. And I remember a lot of the controversies when the left took office, and it seems like, you know, both sides serve the same master. And that master is not someone of any good to the people of this country.”
But if an artist is known by the fans they keep, the highest-profile fans Anthony has quickly accumulated are very much on the right side of the aisle — insta-supporters like former Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, firebrand commentator Matt Walsh, former Mumford & Sons banjoist-turned-political gadfly Winston Marshall and far-right country figure John Rich, who said he has had long conversations with Anthony and offered to produce and finance a full album. If Anthony wants to prove the centrism he professes by picking up some less partisan public figures as fans, he may have his work cut out for him, given the way he’s instantly been embraced as a hero to the right.
Whether Anthony really is an ideologue in good old boy’s clothing remains to be seen. He has several other songs up on YouTube or TikTok, and he refers to pot a lot more than he does politics. (Sample lyrics: “Ain’t gotta dollar / And when the sun goes down / On this itty bitty town / We can light up a bowl n’ pass it around.” And: “Well the liquor and the bowl / They’vе been saving my soul / From the pain that the world’s put on me.”)
When he does stick with social issues, he doesn’t seem like a political scientist, exactly: The only three “issues” he addresses in his plaints against politicians are high taxes, welfare queens and child trafficking. His focus on the latter, which is the sole topic he addresses in his YouTube monologue, has led to the suspicion that he may harbor or represent QAnon views, since that is a key bugaboo of that movement, although he has been limited in how conspiratorial he has publicly gotten. “I wish politicians would look out for miners / And not just minors on an island somewhere,” he sings, a slightly confusing couplet that seems to indicate belief in a government cover-up having to do with Jeffrey Epstein.”
Oliver Anthony's 'Rich Men North of Richmond' is a fave of Kari Lake and Marjorie Taylor Greene; progressive roots music fans, not so much.
variety.com
“Anthony explained in a video introducing himself that he believed that pedophilia was “becoming normalized,” a dog whistle in far-right QAnon circles, which believe former President Donald Trump is secretly fighting a cabal of Democratic sex perverts.
That doesn’t seem to be the only conspiracy theory he’s interested in.
One of the singer’s public playlists on his YouTube channel, “videos to make your noggin get bigger,” contains several videos that promote 9/11 trutherism and COVID-19 conspiracy theories.”
'Videos that make your noggin' get bigger' includes segments about Jews being involved in 9/11.
www.dailydot.com
Why am I not surprised?
Below are some more intriguing links for those of you who are interested…
Just samples really - there are heaps of critical articles being published by the hour, alongside the expected ones praising the populistic acoustic lament as an ode to struggling working-class Americans after its meteoric rise to the top of streaming platform charts and playlists.
No doubt the red-beard redneck’s doggerel protest song resonates with many unhappy conservative voters and will feature prominently in the upcoming Republican election campaign.
“Then we have the chorus. “Livin’ in the new world / With an old soul / These rich men north of Richmond / Lord knows they all just wanna have total control,” he sings. The use of a geological dividing line perhaps evokes the American Civil War, and the US’s intractable North-South political schism. It’s not clear exactly what he means by “old soul” (didn’t he sell his soul at the start of the song?), a phrase most often applied to a person wise beyond their years. Does he mean this? You suspect it may be “old” in a more atavistic sense – the suggestion that he must belong to that sweet, forgotten Southern past, before political correctness and big government came trampling through the wheatfields.”
The pointed protest song has become a No 1 hit, aided by endorsements from Joe Rogan and a host of prominent American conservatives. The issues aren’t just political, writes Louis Chilton – the track is just downright bad
www.independent.co.uk
Promotion of the working-class song by right-wing pundits and politicians helped propel it to the top of the charts.
www.forbes.com
The viral country song by Oliver Anthony has been embraced by right-wing pundits.
www.newyorker.com
Oliver Anthony's song "Rich Men North of Richmond" is climbing up the iTunes charts, but the singer seemingly appeared from nowhere. Who is he?
www.distractify.com
If you don't take Oliver Anthony's surprise hit song too seriously, it's a lot of fun. Regrettably, a lot of people are taking the song much too seriously indeed.
reason.com
And pretty sure I'm on the money was the bit of poop that was stuck right up against his butt hole round disc size of two fifty cent pieces. Which was firm and no movement from the spot. Was causing him to think he was not evacuating properly which he wasn't because that disc was keeping the shit wedged in between his ass and disc. Fuck me mate I'm going for a beer
. 
