A wide-ranging analysis of Rich Men North of Richmond, covering the lyrics and the way fans propel songs in the Hot 100:
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Rich Men North of Richmond #1
- Thread starter TheBigA
- Start date
Oliver Anthony is upset that people are politicizing his song... as if it wasn't meant to be political to begin with!?
He's not saying it wasn't political. What he's saying is that the people who think it makes their point are the people he's actually skewering:
There's no radio edit?
Turns out there's one labelled "clean radio edit" on YouTube, but it's pretty amateurishly altered, and not from the official site.
Still, any radio station is going to edit it, and it's ridiculously easy to do (my favorite technique is to reverse the offensive words---beat remains the same, but the words aren't a problem now).
Which is why the KBAY PD didn't mention it.
They could play the uncensored version on KRTY, the online only station
They could. Wonder if they do, though.
You can't download from YouTube, so it's not a good way to distribute to radio.
I don't think anyone's thinking the radio stations would download it from YouTube. But if you type "clean radio edit" into YouTube, you'll find a lot of them get uploaded.
This seems to be a day and age where everyone takes themselves so seriously that they've lost the capability to appreciate satire.
I'm not sure this was satire, Mark. I think he's sincere---he's just saying it's all the electeds, not one particular party.
Sincerity isn't exactly in surplus these days, either, dontcha think?
Yeah, but I don't really have a reason to doubt him.
So... my initial impression of the song was correct. My initial impression was in conflict with what most media organizations were reporting. How are editors not questioning the lack of critical thinking skills in the final journalism product?
I question this as a former journalism student.
I question this as a former journalism student.
Well, I'd want to go back and see exactly what those outlets said. If they said the song was being embraced and promoted by the right, that's accurate. But, really, someone should have been on the phone to Oliver three weeks ago to get what he ended up saying into a cell phone camera in the front seat of a pickup truck this morning.
Doesn't seem like satire to me either. Just another mediocrity getting his 5 minutes of fame. Nobody will remember this guy in 6 months...
It's essentially a novelty record. It's unlikely he'll have a follow-up hit (most new artists don't). But he'll be in the books for being as big this summer in Country radio as a bona-fide star, Jason Aldean, was, with another song that was controversial politically.
A few years ago I posted a comment on my Facebook page that said something like "I long for a time where the facts would shape people's political stances, rather than their politics determining what they'll accept to be true". What stunned me a bit was that I have friends on both ends of the political spectrum and many of them from both sides "liked" my post, and then commented that they were certain I must be commenting about the other side politically from them. In other words, I posted a pretty general comment, and those on both sides of the political aisle were certain it was aimed at "the other guy" and neither saw themselves or their political group as being included at all.
I just watched the video you posted, and I don't doubt him either. Granted, like most everyone else I haven't listened to any of his other songs, and I'm sure we'll find out a little more about him now that he's come out and addressed the...elephant in the room, so to speak.
He's right. Those people on that stage the other night are not the heroes of the working class. I got some perspective on that a few years ago. After my last radio gig, I was trying to get back in without much success, so I looked for something else. Then this whole global pandemic thing happened. I was lucky enough to get work, but it was jobs I'd have never thought about taking when I was talking into a mic for a living. Like working in a factory making masks. There was an in-demand job!
But it was hard work. Second shift, six days a week going home with pain wracking my hands and feet. Standing in line at the time clock, doing the same procedure thousands of times a night but it was never fast enough, etc. Also met a lot of people who could relate to that song. People for whom this was just their life. People who left at the end of the shift to go to their other job because the money just wasn't enough to feed their family. People who took the bus because they didn't make enough to buy a car. People for whom Medicaid and an EBT card aren't "entitlements" but rather a lifeline. A few guys even lived in the homeless shelter down the road.
So I can understand his frustration. He wrote a song about the struggles of the working class, and millionaires who took private jets provided by billionaire donors to participate in a debate where they share ideas about how deeply to cut "entitlements" are suddenly appropriating it like it's some sort of Republican anthem? Pardon the pun, but that's rich. I wouldn't be surprised if some of these candidates have that song as their "entrance music" at a campaign rally. "We're with you, working class. Now send money!"
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