Singer Oliver Anthony, whose song “Rich Men North of Richmond” climbed to the top of the Billboard singles chart, released a video on YouTube on Friday criticized Republican and conservative outlets for co-opting his song.
“It was fun to see that presidential debate,” Anthony said. “I wrote that song about those people.”
A clip of Anthony’s performance was played by Fox News moderators at the start of Wednesday night’s Republican presidential debate in Milwaukee, after a series of videos of Americans bemoaning conditions under President Biden, including inflation and homelessness.
The clip shows Anthony — with a guitar in hand and two dogs at his feet — singing: “These rich boys north of Richmond / Lord knows they all want total control.”
the song, which Anthony uploaded to YouTube earlier this month, came under fire from conservative figures like Matt Walsh and Laura Ingraham, who described it as an authentic expression of working-class American life. Widely recognized as a conservative anthem, it also drew criticism from some on the left, who the lyrics are called racist.
In the debate, Gov. Florida’s Ron DeSantis was the first to respond to a question asking why the song struck a chord with so many Americans.
“Our country is declining,” Mr. DeSantis said. “This decline is inevitable. It’s a choice.” He added, “Those rich men north of Richmond put us in this situation.”
Anthony said Friday that it “cracked me” that the candidates were forced to listen to his song on stage, because he was singing about powerful people like them.
The new video shows him behind the wheel of his truck, as heavy rain pelts the windows. “That song has nothing to do with Joe Biden,” he said. “You know, it’s bigger than Joe Biden.”
Anthony, who is from Farmville, Va., also said he’s fed up with seeing his music weaponized left and right.
“It hurts to see people in the conservative news trying to identify me as if I’m one of them,” he said. “I see the right one, trying to identify myself as one of them. And I see the left trying to discredit me.”
The left, he added, misinterpreted his lyrics as an attack on the poor when, he said, he was trying to defend them. “I have to be clear that my message like any of my songs, it refers to the inefficiencies of the government.”
Reason, a libertarian magazine, had praised what it thought was Anthony’s anti-tax message. But liberal commentators is disturbed with a lyric about “obese milkin’ welfare.” Even folk singer Billy Bragg wrote his own version of the song and warned Anthony about punching.
At first, Anthony seemed to welcome the attention from conservatives. He gave Fox News the right to use it in the debate, Politico reported. And he gave an interview to the network, saying he was motivated to write the song because of his own struggles, which he felt others shared.
“It reflects the suffering in our world today, just like in our own country,” he said at the time. “We’ve had years of people feeling depressed and hopeless and every time you look on TV or go online it’s all negative.” He added that “corporate media and education” helped sow division.
Anthony brought up that theme in his video on Friday, saying that despite how it may appear, his music really brings people together.
“It’s crazy for people to see the unity that comes from it on all levels,” Anthony said. “It’s not a Republican and Democrat thing. It’s not even a United States thing. Like, it’s become a global response.
Anthony, who could not immediately be reached for an interview Friday night, described himself as a “nobody” who through some divine intervention was tasked with sending a message that things needed to change. Before his massive rise to fame, he was an unknown songwriter. Although he plays Oliver Anthony, his full name is Christopher Anthony Lunsford.
“I don’t know what this country will look like in 10 or 20 years if things don’t change,” he said. “I don’t know what this world will look like. And like, something has to be done about it. You know?”
