Oliver Anthony is a problem for our betters

Most folks are probably aware of the meteoric rise of Oliver Anthony. Short summary: a previously unknown musician comes out of nowhere to suddenly have the number 1 song in America. If you don’t know the song, here is the Rich Men North of Richmond:

Given this incredibly surprising story, one might think our “elites” would be interested in just what is it about this man and this song that so obviously resonated with so many people. One would be wrong. You see, instead, it is the job the elites to explain to us simpletons why this man & song are bad & dangerous and we shouldn’t like this song or artist.

I’m guessing there are dozens of examples of journalists doing this good work, but for this piece I will focus on this gem from NPR:

From NPR:

"Rich Men North of Richmond" seems to fit into a deep vein of protest music, decrying the fat cats who would take advantage of the working man. At its surface, Anthony's song echoes generations of singer-songwriterly tradition. Lyrics celebrating the working man and woman have a long history in American music, from artists including Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, Bill Withers and Bruce Springsteen.

Scratch the surface, however, and you also find extremist and conspiratorial narratives.

Me: Listen you stupid yokels, you may think you are listening to an anti-authority song, much like many others from some of the most respected artists of the past, but you are actually listening to “extremist” and “conspiratorial” narratives. You probably weren’t aware of it because your IQ is too low (and you probably haven’t had a 3rd vaccine booster yet either), but don’t worry, I’ll explain it to you nice and slow.

Back to NPR:

One line, in particular, stands out for its association with a known conspiracy theory: "I wish politicians would look out for miners / And not just minors on an island somewhere." It's a reference to the Jeffrey Epstein scandal: Epstein died in jail four years ago this month, but within far-right circles, there continue to be conspiracy theories about the circumstances around his death.

Me: Oh, yeah, Epstein definitely killed himself, there was absolutely nothing strange about his death.

The thing is, however, the song doesn’t say anything about his death. It would seem to allude to the fact that we know there were many “elite” grown men were taking private jets to a private island where they often had sex with minors. What is NPR’s position on this? When should we expect NPR to uncover the full list of participants in this scandal?

Back to NPR:

Anthony also makes snide remarks about overweight people that appear to evoke Reagan-era tropes of welfare queens: "Well, God, if you're 5-foot-3 and you're 300 pounds," he chastises, "Taxes ought not to pay for your bags of Fudge Rounds."

Me: He’s just like that monster Ronald Reagan! You know the guy that won 49 out of 50 states in his re-election. Just one small point, however, that I’m hoping NPR can help me with…. just before this very troubling lyric, he sings, “Lord, we got folks in the street; Ain’t got nothin’ to eat; And the obese milkin’ welfare”. To my, of course extremely simple mind, it almost sounds like he’s not against people in need getting help, but rather that he thinks perhaps our resources are not being used wisely.

Back to NPR:

Elsewhere, Anthony talks about human trafficking and people taking advantage of children, which is a baseless but common QAnon narrative.

Me: Phew, it’s sound good to know that human trafficking is a baseless conspiracy theory! And good job working QAnon into your article! 👏 Just a small point of clarification would be helpful, however, because I was reading this article from one of your NPR affiliates 🤔

Back to NPR:

Anthony's rapid rise has some very particular context this summer, however. Earlier this month — and also for the first time in Billboard history — three country artists occupied the top three spaces in the Billboard 100, with Jason Aldean's "Try That in a Small Town" at No. 1, Morgan Wallen's "Last Night" at No. 2, and Luke Combs' cover of Tracy Chapman's song "Fast Car" at No. 3. The pump was primed for another big country music hit.

Two of those artists had also spurred a lot of conversation around politics and racial tensions. In 2021, a video of Wallen using the n-word went viral — and then he went on to have the best-selling album of 2021 in any genre. Aldean's video shows him singing in front of a courthouse where a Black teenager was lynched.

Me: Also, he’s just like these other guys who did bad things!

Back to NPR:

Meanwhile, Anthony has benefited from some remarkable signal boost. While the video for "Rich Men North of Richmond" was posted online just two weeks after the work of a nearly anonymous fellow — within days, commentators like Joe Rogan, Laura Ingraham and Matt Walsh were praising him publicly.

Me: Joe Rogan, Laura Ingraham and Matt Walsh praised him. Do I really need to say more?

Back to NPR:

"The reason country works so well for this is," she observes, "is because people assume that country music is 'real,' that it's 'authentic.' This is a straight, white, cis-gendered man in a forest with a guitar singing. And that will always code as true to people, even to people who don't like country music and who don't know anything about it. It's so deeply ingrained in the recesses of our collective pop culture."

Me: Listen you stupid idiots, don’t you know that a straight, white, cis-gendered man is the last person in the world who you should trust as ‘real’ and ‘authentic’? In fact, it’s extremely likely this is all a made up. My bet is that Oliver Anthony is actually a transgender lesbian. And I’m going to need to see her 23 & me to confirm her whiteness as well… could easily be video editing.

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Returning to planet earth & the question I thought perhaps a journalist might be interested in… just why does this song resonate with so many people? Well, I’d hazard to guess that in addition to its musical quality, the lyrics and vocals do hit people on an emotional level. Why would that be? Perhaps many people don’t believe the results of our “leadership” in the last several years have been great? My guess is the success of Rich Men North of Richmond is primarily driven by folks in the 15-44 demographic. Let’s check in on how this age group is doing. Oh, I don’t know, let’s look at the increase in number of folks in this age group who have died from homicides, suicides, drugs, and alcohol in 2020-21 vs. 2018-19. Think maybe there is a reason an anti-authority song is topping the charts?

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