Hey All...It's Really, Actually A Good Song

Oliver Anthony's "Rich Men North of Richmond" Hits the Right Notes; Liberals Should Give it a Listen Too

Far too often our first reactions to whether we like or don’t like music depends on who else likes it. I remember as a teen my first reactions to Guns ‘n Roses, Beastie Boys and Nirvana were fairly negative because of the taint of disliking who it was that was pushing it on me all those years ago (often with the volume turned up to 11). It wasn’t until I could listen to it on my own time, in my own way, when I could come around to appreciating those excellent bands and their breakthrough songs. It’s something we all do. We shouldn’t, but we do.

However, not often, but occassionally, a good song sung well breaks through and you find yourself with many others, often with whom you disagree, nodding and appreciating a good song sung from the heart. It doesn’t have to be true to you, but it does usually have to be true to the person singing the song.

Think Tracy Chapman singing, “Fast Car” about how she is going to escape her situation.¹

Think Fantine in Les Miserables belting out “I Had a Dream” all the way out to the cheap seats, wondering how she ever got to the horrible place she finds herself in now. ²

Think Coolio rapping, practically preaching, about the socio-economic conditions that lead to “Gangsta’s Paradise.”

This year’s biggest tour is going to be Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour” and right now she’s the biggest music star on the planet. Where did she start? Singing songs that were honest about the perceptions and thoughts of a teenage girl. She still connects with her audience in a way that is largely unmatched, mostly because she articulates a female perspective so well.

Which brings us to Oliver Anthony’s surprise hit “Rich Men North of Richmond.” When Republicans adopted it as some sort of anthem, I immediately closed my mind to it. These are the same people who praised Jason Aldean’s song earlier this year, “Try That in a Small Town.”³ The first article I read on it contained much of the lyrics and what I saw was a Country Conservative crapfest.

This morning I read an opinion piece in the Washington Post about it. You can find it here:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/08/18/oliver-anthony-traditional-country-song/

I’m so glad I did. It opened my mind enough to actually go out and reluctantly listen to the song. I was reminded of those songs all those years ago that I had closed my mind to not based on the art itself, but on who it was pushing it. It wasn’t what I expected at all.

The video is just Anthony in front of a mic in the woods. A couple of camera changes sometimes glimpse him at different angles or give a shot of his dog. It’s just him and his red hair and beard, on a Gretsch guitar capoed to the fifth fret, and a mic. His voice echoes a little in the recording, which gives it a feel more of a draft sketch than a finely produced, finished product and also that he is singing as hard as he can because he really wants to get his point across. This stripped down look and sound is exactly what adds a dimension to the song that makes it impressive; it gives the feeling of low production value, that they couldn’t spend a lot for it. It fits like a hand in glove for the items Anthony wants to sing about. In an ocean of overproduced, formulaic, over-the top recordings,⁴ here you have a guy singing a song that could be played busking on any street corner in America at the top of his lungs.

What follows is an unvarnished expression of frustration, disbelief and even class envy, perfectly encapsulating what many Americans below the median feel. It points out hypocrisies, wrongful outcomes, huge obstacles for the working class and the disconnect with the political and economic elite. It’s an articulate, and yes honest, expression told from a perspective of a working class southern male. You don’t have to agree with it, but you should appreciate the artistic expression, the emotive experiences he conveys and the quality of the recording and song he does it with. You don’t have to be a girl to appreciate Taylor Swift or from the inner city to appreciate “Gangsta’s Paradise.” You don’t have to be troubled and impoverished to appreciate “Fast Car.” You can disagree with Anthony’s politics and still appreciate the song in which he expresses them, again, from his point of view. I doubt anyone else could have sang it, because then it would ring hollow.

Some progressives will look at this and won’t give it the time of day. They should. It’s fantastic art. Not to mention, it’s many of the similar frustrations told from a different point of view that this classic hip hop song expressed:

Oliver Anthony admits that he is pretty amateurish when it comes to music. He plays the guitar fine but is no Clapton. He sings well for the type of songs he wants to sing, but he’s no Country superstar (although he does have a Bluesy kind of cadence, which is refreshing and common to Country and Rock). The sound mixing and echo on the track kind of indicates he’s no expert on recording either. But that is exactly what this musical moment needs right now. No synthetic beats. No autotune. No polish. Any production value he would’ve added to it would have just taken away from the quality and the message.

Just one man, on a guitar, expressing his art to the world.

Well done Mr. Anthony. I look forward to hearing more.

PurpleAmerica’s Cultural Corner

My immediate (and wrongful) dismissal of the song pretty much had to do with how it was originally covered. This is disappointing, but I am sure I am not the only one. As with all things, there are ways to cover a topic and ways that are jaded, cynical and do nothing but expand the growing cultual divide in this country.

Let’s look at how certain news outlets are covering the song right now.

• Fox is essentially praising it and promoting it. This is what you get when MTG thinks of it as the next “This Land is Your Land.”

• The BBC, always the outsiders looking in, seem to think the song is “The Hit Song That Has Divided America.”⁵ News flash, it’s not.

• CNN, always reporting only on what is within the bubble of NY and DC (and are largely the people referenced as “North of Richmond”) report on it as just “another angry country song.” Sometimes you wish they would get out of that bubble.

• Liberal outlets the Guardian and MSNBC were the worst. They seem to think it is just angry, should be more analytical (as if it were a policy white paper) and that it “punches down.” You can practically hear the condescension and arrogance with each word in the articles.

Alas, the news outlet that seemed to get it most right was The Atlantic, with this story⁶—”The Misguided Debate over ‘Rich Men North of Richmond’; Why is so much press coverage of this viral song focused solely on Politics?”

It contained this passage which really hit the nail on the head:

and this one:

The New Yorker article⁷ above featured this line, which sums up everything I said.

At least a few outlets get it.

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Footnotes and Fun Stuff

1. It’s a great song that was remade into a huge country hit this last summer. However, the remake doesn’t have the punch the original did; it seemed a little more contrived and lacking in honesty, since Luke Combs didn’t have to escape anything.

2. There’s a reason this is one of the most beloved songs for female singers; it demonstrates the singers’ ability and range and there’s a great opportunity to express emotion that is not often found in many songs.

3. I wrote about that song earlier this year. While I don’t care for the song that much it was dumb for people to call for it’s banning, which I wrote about here:

4. Think the forementioned Jason Aldean song, or pretty much any hip hip song these days

5. https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20230818-rich-men-north-of-richmond-the-hit-song-that-has-divided-the-us

6. https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2023/08/the-misguided-debate-over-rich-men-north-of-richmond/675046/

7. https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/a-close-listen-to-rich-men-north-of-richmond