Oliver Anthony’s “Rich Men North of Richmond” was a cultural lightening bolt, regardless of your thoughts on it. Very few songs obtain such overnight resonance and viral success. Within a few weeks or so of release, it was featured at the beginning of a presidential debate for goodness’ sake. And there certainly have been a lot of thoughts thrown around. From instant love and praise, to skepticism reasonable or not, and of course, outright derision and hatred. Was this a genuine guy and a real song from the soul or an astro-turfed industry-plant “hicklib”? Though the dust has settled some, with a new international tour set to begin soon, I’m sure Oliver Anthony will be around for plenty more online opining on his every step.
The most reasonable negative opinion about the song itself is that it is just too much of a downer. There’s no victorious redemption or happy ending. It’s a lament that doesn’t inspire, but weighs you down. The argument follows that this only leads to people feeling sorry for themselves and inaction as they wallow in their woe is me. The Conundrum Cluster wrote a great pair of pieces expressing this sentiment with excellent points that I don’t disagree with as he’s framed them.1
I get it. This is oftentimes true. And to the extent that music does this, it’s a negative thing, no matter how good the artistry itself is. At the end of that track is plenty a man who’s drank himself to death and all other manner of self-destructive behavior. It’s a serious problem, particularly for our youth. Yet, I venture that “Rich Men North of Richmond” is not just another one too many laments. Oliver Anthony’s subsequent testimony of accepting Christ as his savior, turning away from his own personal mire, and using his newfound platform to share the Gospel are some ripe fruits as evidence of this.
Notwithstanding such evidence, and looking at the song standing alone, as a lament it follows a well tread and rich tradition in America. The blues, bluegrass, and country are all inextricable from man’s experience of woe—the blues being chief among them. “Conservative” music, whatever that is, shouldn’t shy away this core of human experience. There is more power in the lament than we know. It can reach the soul in ways that more direct messaging simply cannot.
“Rich Men North of Richmond” resonated with people exponentially more than Eric Clapton and Van Morrison’s covid protest songs, “No More Lockdowns,” “Stand and Deliver,” “The Rebels,” “As I Walked Out,” and “This Has Got to Stop.”2
The Eric Clapton and Van Morrison. Two all-time greats. Boomer royalty. These songs are triumphant, direct, and rebellious in tone. But hardly anyone heard them. They’re already forgotten. Now, to be candid, these songs aren’t the greatest in either artists’ discography. They’re protest first and art second. They have some clunky and heavy-handed lyricism that really only speaks to those of us already on the same page, or maybe those who were beginning to wake up from the mass psyop of covid.
Evidently in 2022, Van Morrison even released a whole album of covid protest music as well that I only just now learned of. It received even less attention than the initial tracks. I’m genuinely surprised that I only just now learned about it.
So it’s been the lament by an unknown redhead that’s stirred the exponentially larger conversation. I think there’s a triumph there that shouldn’t be disregarded. Can and should “dissident” or “conservative” music aspire to greater artistry—more subtlety, more provocation, more poeticism, more listenability? Absolutely.
In the mean time, I’m going to listen to Tom Petty’s “Rebels.” If you’ve never watched the live performance of this song from Petty’s “Pack up the Plantation Tour,” I’d like to share this American treasure with you.
Check em out:
When music becomes too obviously aligned, it stops being sexy. If you’re a dissident and want to make music, I think it’s best to focus on aesthetics and subtle messaging, like the best of poetry.