How an obscure country artist’s viral song became a conservative anthem

Oliver Anthony’s “Rich Men North of Richmond” shot to the top of the U.S. Apple Music and iTunes Country charts and racked up more than 9 million views in five days.

Rich Men North of Richmond (lyrics)

I’ve been sellin’ my soul, workin’ all day
Overtime hours for bullsh&% pay
So I can sit out here and waste my life away
Drag back home and drown my troubles away

It’s a damn shame what the world’s gotten to
For people like me and people like you
Wish I could just wake up and it not be true
But it is, oh, it is

Livin’ in the new world
With an old soul
These 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 sh&% and it’s taxed to no end
‘Cause of rich men north of Richmond

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I wish politicians would look out for miners
And not just minors on an island somewhere
Lord, we got folks in the street, ain’t got nothin’ to eat
And the obese milkin’ welfare

Well, God, if you’re 5-foot-3 and you’re 300 pounds
Taxes ought not to pay for your bags of fudge rounds
Young men are puttin’ themselves six feet in the ground
‘Cause all this damn country does is keep on kickin’ them down

Lord, it’s a damn shame what the world’s gotten to
For people like me and people like you
Wish I could just wake up and it not be true
But it is, oh, it is

Livin’ in the new world
With an old soul
These 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 sh^% and it’s taxed to no end
‘Cause of rich men north of Richmond

I’ve been sellin’ my soul, workin’ all day
Overtime hours for bullsh$#t pay

Conservatives pundits are rallying around a new country song from a relatively unknown artist that went viral online after appearing on YouTube last week.

Oliver Anthony’s “Rich Men North of Richmond” shot to the top of the U.S. Apple Music and iTunes Country charts and racked up more than 9 million views in five days, launching the indie singer — a previously off-the-grid farmer from a small town in Virginia — into the public eye almost overnight.

The song’s lyrics, a soulful expression of working-class frustrations while tearing into wealthy Washington elites, have made it an anti-establishment anthem, especially among blue-collar workers.