Oliver Anthony, the overnight star whose song “Rich Men North Of Richmond” has accidentally become an rallying cry for the conservative movement, remains nonplussed at the song’s success among the more unsavory elements of the nation’s political participants. After the song was played to open the Republican Presidential debate on Wednesday night, the bashful musician posted a video to YouTube admitting that the song’s use during the debate was “funny.”
After some preamble explaining his current circumstances and musing about how “dirty” the music industry apparently is from his outsider’s perspective, he addressed the debate situation head-on. He expressed frustration that the song had taken on such a political bent over the past few weeks and politicians trying to use him for clout.
“It was funny seeing my song at the [Republican] presidential debate, because I wrote that song about those people,” he admitted. “So for them to have to sit there and listen to that, that cracks me up. It was funny seeing the response to it. That song has nothing to do with Joe Biden — it’s a lot bigger than Joe Biden. That song is written about the people on that stage — and a lot more, too. Not just them, but definitely them.”
Oliver Anthony condemns conservative figures adopting his song, “Rich Men North of Richmond,” as a right-wing anthem:
“It was funny seeing my song at the [Republican] presidential debate, because I wrote that song about those people, you know. So for them to have to sit there… pic.twitter.com/GRYsAf9Geq
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) August 25, 2023
While he hates to see the song being “weaponized,” and doesn’t enjoy being used as a political prop, his heart seems to be in a decent enough place, despite everything (both sides-ism and demonizing welfare recipients — the same people who are experiencing food insecurity — isn’t reeeeeally the solution here, bud, no matter what Fox News tells you).
You can see the full video up top.