Oliver Anthony and the Ballad of the Everyday Man

A phenomena of resistance is sweeping this country and our leaders would be wise to pay attention. A man in Virginia by the name of Oliver Anthony has delivered a ballad so powerful it’s being shared all over the world. It’s the Ballad of the Everyday Man. The Working Man.

I’ve probably listened to it about 50 or more times. I’ve been fascinated by the take of what they call “YouTube Influencers.” These “influencers” of every stripe, every color, every social class; and various countries, have taken to their “channels” to discuss this song, “Rich Men North of Richmond.” Almost to a person, each has felt moved and excited by this acoustic song that is both sincere and raw.

As I understand it, Anthony recorded it with a cell phone in his backyard with two dogs at his feet. It has had tens of millions of views worldwide. I’ve seen Brits and Swedes and South Africans discussing this song and its emotional impact on them as they deconstructed it.

The liberal media called it “Maga” and “White Extremist” and “Racist.” But I haven’t seen that reaction at all among the rainbow of influencers; to a person, they don’t find racism or extremism, they are visibly moved and clearly express raw emotions that Anthony is speaking personally to their experience.

And many, many of the You Tube videos are young black men. I repeat…young black men.

Anthony is about as white as they come, he’s a “strawberry.” I would imagine he’s one of the Scotch-Irish Appalachian settlers’ descendants. He may even have some White Trash origins, I know I do. But there they are, these admirers of his song, white, black, male, female, American, British, French, Irish, New Zealanders and so on; testifying he is speaking to them, expressing their angst and their frustration with a system they feel is rigged against them.

He starts with “I work overtime hours for b*llsh*t pay.” His use of the words “b*llsh*t pay” usually gets the influencer to stop the video and take a moment. “Did he just say that?” is the common reaction.

Another moment is when he says “They don’t care about Miners, only Minors on Islands.” That usually is a full stop. In video after video they stop and say “Wait! What? Did he just mention Epstein?” One guy didn’t get it and his female companion had to explain sex trafficking on Lolita Island by Jeffrey Epstein to him. And Bill Clinton’s name was thrown into that explanation.

He talks about how his dollar is taxed to death and how three hundred pound women collect welfare while we pay for their fudge rounds. There has been much umbrage over this lyric but I have to tell you I have relatives that fit that description…to a tee. That’s not fat shaming, it’s true and it’s saying why do we have to pay for that? I not only pay for that with my taxes, I get phone calls from relatives who don’t work a day, claim a disability and beg me for grocery money. I’ve been generous to an extent but it wears thin when I consider what we have to do to keep our heads above water.

The song is a direct fire on a system that punishes the productive and rewards the lazy. And so it should be. Again, I know these people intimately: the people who take and do nothing ever at all and want a handout and those who work their behinds off and don’t find a satisfactory reward for their labor.

Because the Rich Men North of Richmond don’t really care about the working class, they say they do…but you and I know they don’t. And they dole out benefits like candy to the lazy poor to buy votes.

Anthony brings to mind Woody Guthrie, a balladeer like Anthony, who constantly pointed out the unfairness of the system. Guthrie was critical voice during and after the Great Depression of the 1930’s. He evoked need and want and the grinding machine of politicians who get fat and get theirs and basically tell the masses “Eat Cake.” We haven’t had a voice like Anthony's since Bob Dylan. And it’s time. And it’s necessary in this time. I’ve noticed the smear campaigns and others, the Influencers especially, I have noticed them. And nobody’s buying it because Anthony is so authentic and heart felt and gut wrenching and he’s a touched a nerve so deep and so long overdue that anyone who hears that song is looking at the machine and calling bullsh*t on their response.