| 1152 | August 5 | "Try That in a Small Town" | Jason Aldean | [62][63] |
|---|
Jason Aldean - Try That in a Small Town
| 1153 | August 26 | "Rich Men North of Richmond" | Oliver Anthony Music | [67][68] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 2 | [69] |
Oliver Anthony - Rich Men North of Richmond
I've been sellin' my soul, workin' all day
Overtime hours for bullshit pay
So I can sit out here and waste my life away
Drag back home and drown my troubles away
[Pre-Chorus]
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
[Chorus]
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 shit and it's taxed to no end
'Cause of rich men north of Richmond
[Verse 2]
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 five-foot-three and you're three-hundred 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
[Pre-Chorus]
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
[Chorus]
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 shit and it's taxed to no end
'Cause of rich men north of Richmond
[Outro]
I've been sellin' my soul, workin' all day
Overtime hours for bullshit pay
Both unexpected country hits have been denounced and/or parodied by the Left. The right wing has taken them for anthems, not necessarily welcomed by the performance artists. For example, Anthony's hit was specifically referenced during the recent 2024 GOP POTUS primary debate. Far from being thrilled by the occasion, Anthony's response could be paraphrased as "I wrote the song against just these type people."
It's likely the FNC debate moderators were keying on verses like "And the obese milkin' welfare...Taxes ought not to pay for your bags of Fudge Rounds" and "'Cause your dollar,,,'s taxed to no end" The "I wish politicians would look out for miners and not just minors on an island somewhere" seems an obvious reference to the leftist obsession with the sex trafficking Jeffrey Epstein scandal.
Some read the song as an anti-capitalist and/or a class warfare anthem. I don't think so. I might try to put a libertarian spin on it but he seems to object more to the priorities and policies of woke general government than the intrinsic incompetence of the general government. He seems to welcome considerations of the working class (miners). Does that mean a robust social welfare net with micromanaged employer mandates, or is he referencing things like the effects of green policies or other governmental regulations on the opportunities available to blue-collar workers? I think probably the latter. It's hard to see how Anthony thinks a system exacerbating obesity in the safety net would be any more competent micromanaging blue-collar work opportunities
I do agree with Brion McClanahan that Anthony is probably referencing an old Southern conservative perspective. The old South before the Civil War resented protectionist tariff policies that hurt their exports and largely benefited moneyed, politically connected Northeasterners at the expense of their cost of living--not only that but their taxes were being spent disproportionately on northern infrastructure. I think the use of 'Richmond' clearly represents the South and he is obviously targeting the federal government with explicit references to politicians, taxes, monetary policy, welfare policy, expansive government scope and monitoring of its own citizens. Corporations without government mandates must rely on voluntary transactions. The 'rich men' reference is more obscure: is he referring to politicians who grow richer with tenure? The undue influence of moneyed interests through political donations, lobbyists or other connections? The wealthier are better able to weather the ravages of inflation and can benefit from government bailouts and Fed interventions.
I do think that Anthony probably includes the unholy corrupt alliance between crony capitalists and the government where the weapons of government rules can have disparate adverse effects on smaller competitors, often which cannot be imposed via market competition.
It's also likely Anthony is sympathetic to a well-known libertarian argument that the political duopoly is only differentiated by nuance, they both favor Big Government, centralized control and bloated spending, motivated more by personal political ambition than principle.
The Aldean song was written by Kelley Lovelace, Neil Thrasher, Tully Kennedy, and Kurt Allison. It is particularly notable for the related music video, resulting in a CMT ban. Much of the adverse reaction on the prominent background courthouse at Columbia, Tennessee, which has racial injustice significance, the site of the lynching of Henry Choate in 1927 and the Columbia race riot of 1946. (Aldean did not choose the location, which has been used for a number of earlier video projects.) The video also includes prominent clips of urban violence, BLM protests, and riots.
The song's embrace of small-town values and criticism of urban crime and violence, nonresponsive and autocratic local leadership, hostile to individual rights (e.g., Second Amendment), are common themes in country music; as Brion McClanahan among others have noted, Hank Williams Jr., among others, has explored these themes.
