'Rich Men North of Richmond' Explodes as Anthem of the Working Man

It came up on my Youtube stream and it blew me away (see video below). As this short haired, blue-collared man with a big burly red beard strums his banjo-guitar, he belts out a song out in the middle of the bush somewhere in the deep South surrounded by his dogs and a single lawn chair. His name is Oliver Anthony, remember that name.

It has already been labeled as the working man's anthem after getting over 6.2 million views so far on his DYI Youtube channel. He captured lightning in a bottle with this song because Mr. Anthony expresses the frustration of so many Americans and he hit a nerve with the 40-50 million workers worldwide.

Oliver Anthony's message is given in plain, working-man language. Pope Benedict says it in a theological way... 

"I would like to remind everyone, especially governments engaged in boosting the world's economic and social assets, that the primary capital to be safeguarded and valued is man, the human person in his or her integrity: 'Man is the source, the focus and the aim of all economic and social life". In other words, no human being should have to 'sell their soul', breaking their backs with an unbearable workload just to get peanuts in return.

In the face of overt political corruption and the oppression that workers are now put under, the power of culture emerges from this one overnight, out of nowhere hit. He places the blame squarely on the 'rich men north of Richmond' (our Washington DC Representatives and the unelected bloated bureaucracy). It's bigger than politics since it's about human greed for power and injustice done to good people in order to get more and more of it.

Universal truths expressed in poetic and clever lyrics match perfectly with the raw emotion, pain, desperation and frustration in his voice. For the average worker with two jobs, barely making ends meet, Oliver sings from the heart and has emerged as their frontman on the world stage. For those struggling to put food on the table as the value of the dollar plummets, this song is a long sought after breakthrough and a rallying point.

People stuck in the work-a-day world have finally found their voice, oh and what a voice it is!

While some of the language is rough, the sentiment of these lyrics remind me of the dignity of the worker that the Bible speaks of in Deuteronomy 24:14-15 :  Do not withhold wages from  your workers, for their livelihood depends on them and Sirach 34:26-27: To deprive an employee of wages is to commit murder and finally, Matthew 20:1-16: All workers should be paid a just and living wage.

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

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