‘Bone-chilling’ country ballad about working class struggle goes viral: 'Overtime hours, bulls--t pay'

An up-and-coming country artist from Farmville, Virginia may be looking at his big break as a video for his new song "Rich Men North of Richmond" just went viral on social media.

YouTube channel Radio WV published a video of Oliver Anthony doing a simple but powerful rendition of his song to the platform this week, which has since gained over a million views on the channel and millions more on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

The performance consists of Anthony, a bearded man from the Virginia countryside, and his guitar, playing a mournful but powerful tune about the working class struggling while the wealthy seek "total control."

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Anthony belted out the simple, but heartfelt lyrics for Radio WV, singing, "I’ve been selling my soul, working all-day, overtime hours, bulls--t pay, so I can sit out here, And waste my life away. Drive back home and drink my troubles away. It’s a damn shame what the world’s gotten to, for people like me, people like you. Wish I could just wake up and it not be true, but it is …"

In a subsequent verse, Anthony’s convicted lyrics targeted the wealthy. He sang, "There’s 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. Cause your dollar ain’t s--t, and it’s taxed to no end, cause the rich men north of Richmond."

Subsequent verses called out politicians, "obese" Americans taking advantage of welfare, and mentioned the suicide epidemic of young men in America today. 

The song resonated with viewers online, many of whom left moving testimony about what the song meant for them. One user replied to Radio WV’s video, saying, "I’m a 39 year old Iraq vet and Construction worker, struggling like a dog to take care of two kids and keep a farm going when I’m not working 11 hour days. This hit so hard today I had to stop my old peterbilt and tear up. Preach brother."

Another commented, "I haven't heard a bone chilling original song in what seems like decades. You speak for millions of us. I've been waiting for you Oliver."

On X, the reception was even more overwhelming, with journalists and social media influencers clamoring to promote Anthony’s song. 

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Conservative influencer Jason Howerton posted about a recent interview he had with the musician over the phone, giving his followers some background that Anthony shared with him about his life. 

Howerton wrote, "In the past, Oliver was struggling with mental health & coping with alcohol. In depths of despair, just about a month ago, Oliver got to his knees & broke down in tears. Though he's wasn't a religious man, that night he promised God to get sober if he helped him follow his dream."

He continued, "Oliver was about 30 days sober when someone reached out & asked him to come record a song for his YouTube channel. That song was ‘Rich Men North of Richmond.’"

Journalist and author Ryan James Girdusky wrote, "What a great protest song in the great southern tradition ‘Rich Men North of Richmond’ by Oliver Anthony."

UncoverDC editor-in-chief Tracy Beanz commented, "This — this is what it’s all about."

With his song blowing up on social media, Anthony created an X account and shared his thoughts on his overnight success. 

He posted, "Rich Men North of Richmond has been uploaded to all major streaming platforms and will show up there in a few days. Im still in a state of shock at the outpouring of love I've seen in the comments, messages and emails. I'm working to respond to everyone as quickly as possible."

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