The song by the unknown singer-musician Oliver Anthony went viral and intensified the discussion about the politicization of cultural products.
Of the unknown American musician of Oliver Anthony paragraph Rich Men North of Richmond has risen to the top of the singles charts at breakneck speed and intensified the discussion about the politicization of cultural products in the United States, says, among other things, the British Broadcasting Company BBC.
As recently as July, Anthony, who lives in the town of Farmville, Virginia, USA, was a farm owner, songwriter and country musician unknown to the general public.
In the second week of August, a small local internet radio station in West Virginia published a video on their Youtube channel, in which Anthony pretends to compose a song. In the video, Anthony stands in front of a forested landscape and sings the song accompanied by his guitar. His three dogs are resting on the ground.
The video published by the radio channel garnered more than two million views in just two days, says the BBC. To date, more than 37 million views have been accumulated.
The country ballad is currently in both the US Billboard Hot 100 -list and music service Apple Music Top 100 I listened to the singles list.
Billboard website
according to Anthony is the first artist whose song has reached the top of the chart without previous chart history. The experts keep the pace especially interestingwith which the song has conquered both the top positions of the charts and the playlists of radio channels without the support of a record company. The song went up Number one on the iTunes country chart on August 11, just two days after the video was released.
With his song Anthony sings about the working people’s frustration with the rich who don’t care about the underprivileged, but he also criticizes taxation.
In the chorus, he sings in a free translation that he sold his soul to a daily job, where the hours stretch beyond working hours and the pay is poor.
“I’ve been sellin’ my soul, workin’ all day / Overtime hours for bullshit pay.”
“It’s a damn shame what the world’s gotten to / For people like me and people like you.”
Later, he sings in a free translation about people who live on the street, but criticizes those who seem to live in abundance with the help of government subsidies.
“Lord, we got folks in the street / Ain’t got nothin’ to eat / And the obese milkin’ welfare.”
Paragraph has been interpreted as a workers’ song on the one hand, but on the other hand the part criticizing taxation seems to also fit the opinions of the right.
Economic magazine According to Forbes Anthony has been brought to the top of the lists, especially by the huge attention paid to it by right-wingers on their own social media channels.
The attention has also affected the performance of Anthony’s other songs. According to Forbes, some of the songs are as political as Rich Men North of Richmond.
The song has already come out the signature tune of the rightand it has been defended by, for example, a podcast host Joe Rogan and a country star known for his conservative opinions John Richwhich is According to Billboard also offered to produce Anthony’s next album.
For example, a congressman Marjorie Taylor called the song on messaging service X (formerly known as Twitter) “
as an anthem for those forgotten Americans who truly support the country
“. Trump’s an Arizona Republican politician known as a supporter Kari Lake wrote freely in translationthat the song is an anthem for the America of our time.
American According to NBC News conservative politicians have used the song as theme music at their events.
Anthony himself has not taken a stand on what his song represents politically. He has commented, subject to interpretation, that he positions himself politically “completely in the middle”.
“I sit pretty dead center down the aisle on politics,” says the singer on videowhich he posted on August 8, a day before a West Virginia radio station posted a filmed performance of him on its YouTube page.
Anthony says he wrote Rich Men North of Richmond -song in 2021. He says the song is based on his experiences as a factory worker in North Carolina.
The surprisingly hugely popular song has been seen as the latest example of the politicization of popular culture products in a divided United States.
Correction 24.8. 11:16 p.m.: In the story, the expression “dead center” was incorrectly translated as “dead center”. Actually, it means completely in the middle.
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