#JasonIsbell on "Rich Men North of Richmond" by #OliverAnthony: "There’s something there. But that’s the song you should have written when you were 16, and then, when you were 19, you should have rewritten it without the part about hating people on welfare. And then when you are 20 you throw the whole thing out and write another song."
I posted the Billy Bragg song answer to Oliver Anthony recently, but this quote is too good not to pass along.
"Since I saw that clip of Oliver Anthony singing "Rich Men North of Richmond" the ghost of Woody Guthrie has been whispering in my ear.
"Help that guy out" Woody keeps telling me.
"Let him know there's a way to deal with those problems he's singing about."
Today I sat down & wrote this response to Mr Anthony's song, for people like him & people like you."
themes:
low wages: "bullshit pay"
food poverty: "nothing to eat"
high inflation: "dollar ain't shit"
high taxes: "taxed to no end"
child trafficking: "minors on an island"
welfare abuse: "obese milkin' welfare"
centralization of power: "wanna have total control"
effective storytelling is the reason why right-wing commentators like Joe Rogan, Laura Ingraham elevated “Rich Men North of Richmond,” a song with a simple message by a relatively unknown country artist
To Fight the “Rich Men North of Richmond,” Organize a Union
Reactions to Oliver Anthony’s viral hit, “Rich Men North of Richmond,” have played out along drearily predictable culture-war lines
But Billy Bragg’s response, “Rich Men Earning North of a Million,” instructing Anthony to “join a union, brother,” perfectly cuts through the noise https://jacobin.com/2023/09/oliver-anthony-billy-bragg-rich-men-north-of-richmond-union
Since I saw that clip of Oliver Anthony singing "Rich Men North of Richmond" the ghost of Woody Guthrie has been whispering in my ear.
"Help that guy out" Woody keeps telling me.
"Let him know there's a way to deal with those problems he's singing about."
Today I sat down & wrote this response to Mr Anthony's song, for people like him & people like you.
Oliver Anthony slams Republicans for using his song at GOP debate: 'I wrote that song about those people'
In a video statement addressing the viral reaction to his song "Rich Men North of Richmond," singer Oliver Anthony distanced himself from the conservatives who've latched onto the song.
“That song has nothing to do with Joe Biden, you know? It’s a lot bigger than Joe Biden. That song was written about the people on that stage and a lot more too. Not just them, but definitely them,”
Oliver Anthony Clarifies Politics in Teary-Eyed Video, Addresses GOP Debate Question: ‘Rich Men’ Is ‘Written About the People on That Stage’ #politics#USPol#OliverAnthony
"Everything about the breakout appeal of #RichMenNorthOfRichmond is steeped in an evangelical culture of bellicose ideological confrontation [..] If any howl of backlash-themed provocation issues from a Southern-branded bard like Anthony or Aldean, it’s automatically stamped as 'authentic' as it moves down the culture-trust production line."
Have we talked about this astroturfed Q-laced Hillbilly Elegy in song form?
The song, allegedly by an unknown Oliver Anthony, has very suspiciously rocketed in views, while being a convenient answer to Jason Aldean > Tyler Childers. It was also fluffed by Matt Walsh and Joe Rogan, if that tells you anything.
This article seems to think itsa record industry op, but I'm much more on the #Thiel train.