Oliver Anthony: Further Thoughts on Rich Men North of Richmond.

Richard Mellor

Afscme Local 444, retired
HEO/GED

8-31-23

 

After listening to Oliver Anthony’s song Rich Men North of Richmond I drew certain conclusions. To be honest, I jumped the gun. I was too quick to judge. I posted Billy Braggs' response to the song this blog. But after some comments from two trusted friends, one a black small business man believe it or not, and the other a fellow worker and union member I have shifted my views on this.

 

Not that I don’t have some reason to have drawn the conclusion I did, after all, the right wing has promoted the song and some of the lyrics bothered me.

 

But, unlike many on the left, I do not feel I have all the answers or always get it right. We can all make errors it’s best though, not to make catastrophic ones. I listened to a couple of his songs and on reflection, Oliver Anthony’s version is much better in that there is a deeper class anger in there. Bragg’s to be honest, is a bit too moralizing and also, simply telling someone to “join a union” is a bit simplistic. But that’s another issue.

 

So I watched this video above and posted it to Facebook with an introduction I include here as part of this commentary.

 

I've been trying to write a commentary about this song, the artist and all the hullabaloo around it. This video is better than anything I could have done, it's too damn complicated. For some, particularly leftists, him saying his song and his singing of it was "divine intervention" is a bit of a turn off as this is so often associated with conservative right wing views. But in my 30 years of class struggle on the job, where, as we say, the rubber meets the road, two of the toughest and most dedicated working class fighters were people from a religious (Christian) background.

 

We had so-called revolutionaries in the mix who were, to be honest, worthless. A friend recently told me that him being able to turn around his life was gods doing. Naturally, as an Atheist I don't agree with that, it was his commitment and hard struggle. But it does not matter whether I think god exists or not, or that it was his perseverance and god had nothing to do with it. What matters, is not whether I believe in god, what matters is does he? And if one does believe in this supreme power and praying to it gives them strength to engage in the struggle to turn their lives around or face the obstacles that is overwhelming them and other human beings and the class struggle is one of them, then pray away.

I came to the US from the UK. Those of us from abroad like me have to also recognize that the US in not the UK or any other European nation. It is a settler state that for 400 years had an apartheid slave system in a fifth of its territory. Religion played a major role in this. There has also never been a party of the working class in this country, every gain the workers and oppressed people have made is through fierce battles in the streets and workplaces against the forces of the state.

 

Oliver Anthony’s song exhibits some real class anger in the American way. It is lacking, but he's what he is. Billy Braggs on a second look was a bit too much moralizing and simply telling someone to "join a union" doesn't hit home. Anyway, on reflection, these are my thoughts on Rich Men North of Richmond reflection.