Following the enormous success of his song, “Rich Men North of Richmond” Oliver Anthony has blown up online delivering beautiful songs as well as glimpses into his personal life.
In this video, Anthony reflects on the immediate success of the Billboard Charts and the reception he got after the Morris County Farm Market. All these videos have been raw uncut speeches he’s given addressing fans. In all three videos, he’s set up his phone in his car and speaks directly to the people.
In the days following its rise in popularity, “Rich Men North of Richmond” was featured in the first GOP Primary debate where candidates were asked to describe what the song meant to them. Here, Anthony discusses how he’s disappointed that this song has gotten involved with politics and, “how it’s aggravating to see people on conservative news try to identify with me, like I’m one of them”
“It’s funny seeing my song on the presidential debate because it’s like, I wrote that song about those people. So for them to have to sit there and listen to that it cracks me up.”
Despite the overwhelming response from conservative media outlets, he goes on to say how the song was not written about Joe Biden but the people on the stage. Anthony’s message is set at a much larger scale than one presidential administration and is a comment on the political system as a whole. He goes on to say how he’s observing the reaction videos online, how it’s such a diverse group of people enjoying and relating to the song, and how that’s what scares the people in power, not the contents of the song.
He wraps up the video the same way he began it, by going back to his faith and how he feels that the song and his music are bigger than him as a person. Anthony starts to choke up at the end as he shares his thoughts on the current social and political climate of the world and how he’s scared and uncertain of what the world will look like in 10-20 years.
His smash hit, “Rich Men North of Richmond” currently has 40 million views on the ‘radiowv’ YouTube channel as of August 25th and sits at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
