Oliver Anthony – a musician from Farmville, Virginia – is taking social media by storm with his song entitled “Rich Men North Of Richmond.” A clip of the song and an accompanying video already has over 200,000 views at the time of publication, with its YouTube equivalent at nearly half-a-million after just 24 hours.
The bluegrass anthem is a condemnation of the Washington D.C.’s political establishment and the wealthy men who influence American politics who have left the working class behind. Anthony’s lyrics lament the skyrocketing suicide rate amongst men in America; the struggle of working Americans to make ends meet; and Washington’s penchant for sending money to aid in conflicts overseas before helping those most in need at home”
I’ve been selling my soul, working all day, overtime hours for bullshit pay. So I can sit out here, and waste my life away drive back home, and drown my troubles away. It’s a damn shame, what the world’s gotten to, for people like me and people like you.
Anthony’s chorus makes the song’s political message plenty clear:
These rich men north of Richmond, lord knows they all just wanna have total control. Wanna know what you think wanna know what you do. And they don’t think you know, but I know that you do. Because your dollar ain’t shit. And it’s taxed to no end because of rich men north of Richmond.
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