Rich Men North of Richmond

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How about this song?

There is power in a factory, power in the land
Power in the hand of the worker
But it all amounts to nothing
If together we don't stand
There is power in a Union
Now the lessons of the past
Were all learned with workers' blood
The mistakes of the bosses we must pay for
From the cities and the farmlands
To trenches full of mud
War's always been the bosses' way, sir
The Union forever defending our rights
Down with the blackleg, all workers unite
With our brothers and our sisters
From many far off lands
There is power in a Union
Now I long for the morning that they realize
Brutality and unjust laws cannot defeat us
But who'll defend the workers who cannot organise
When the bosses send their lackeys out to cheat us?
Money speaks for money
The Devil for his own
Who comes to speak for the skin and the bone?
What a comfort to the widow
A light to the child
There is power in a Union
The Union forever defending our rights
Down with the blackleg, all workers unite
With our brothers and our sisters
Together we will stand
There is power in a Union

As someone from a union family, I approve this message.

This is an old fashioned one, but still good:

I dreamed, I saw Joe Hill last night
Alive as you and me
Says I "But Joe, you're ten years dead"
"I never died" says he
"I never died" says he

"The copper bosses killed you, Joe"
"They shot you Joe" says I
"Takes more than guns to kill a man"
Says Joe "I didn't die"
Says Joe "I didn't die"

And standing there, as big as life
And smiling with his eyes
Says Joe "What they can never kill
Went on to organize
Went on to organize"

From San Diego up to Maine
In every mine and mill
Where working folks defend their rights
It's there you find Joe Hill
It's there you find Joe Hill

I dreamed I saw, I dreamed I saw, Joe Hill last night
Alive as you and me
Says I "But Joe, you're ten years dead"
"I never died" says he, "I never died" says he
"I never died" says he"

[Anonymous]

I know which side Oliver Anthon is on.

Come all you poor workers
Good news to you I'll tell
How that good old union
Has come in here to dwell
Which side are you on?
Which side are you on?
We're starting our good battle
We know we're sure to win
Because we've got the gun
Thugs are looking very thin
Which side are you on?
Which side are you on?
You go to Harlan County
There is no neutral there
You'll either be a union man
Or a thug for J.H. Blair
Which side are you on?
Which side are you on?
They say they have to guard us
To educate their child
Their children live in luxury
Our children almost wild
Which side are you on?
Which side are you on?
Gentlemen, can you stand it?
Oh, tell me how you can
Will you be a gun thug or will you be a man?
Which side are you on?
Which side are you on?
My daddy was a miner
He's now in the air and sun
He'll be with you fellow workers
'Til every battle's won
Which side are you on?
Which side are you on?
Now all of you know which side you're on
And they'll never keep us down

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Love the song and love the singer, Oliver Anthony.

I don't know why you think this is "scary." He is expressing what many middle and lower class people are thinking and feeling.

Here are the lyrics:
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

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

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

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 5-foot-3 and you're 300 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

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

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

I've been sellin' my soul, workin' all day
Overtime hours for bullshit pay

“Hey, that’s me.”

-Glenn from Great Falls

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How about this song?

There is power in a factory, power in the land
Power in the hand of the worker
But it all amounts to nothing
If together we don't stand
There is power in a Union
Now the lessons of the past
Were all learned with workers' blood
The mistakes of the bosses we must pay for
From the cities and the farmlands
To trenches full of mud
War's always been the bosses' way, sir
The Union forever defending our rights
Down with the blackleg, all workers unite
With our brothers and our sisters
From many far off lands
There is power in a Union
Now I long for the morning that they realize
Brutality and unjust laws cannot defeat us
But who'll defend the workers who cannot organise
When the bosses send their lackeys out to cheat us?
Money speaks for money
The Devil for his own
Who comes to speak for the skin and the bone?
What a comfort to the widow
A light to the child
There is power in a Union
The Union forever defending our rights
Down with the blackleg, all workers unite
With our brothers and our sisters
Together we will stand
There is power in a Union

Talking with the taxman about poetry
Billie Bragg

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh please. You people. This song SCARES you? There is no call to arms, no violence discussed, even obliquely.

Meanwhile, let's look at the #1 streamed rap song this week. And I'm a fan of rap, which is how I instantly knew to do some literary comparison.

Fukumean, by Gunna, is #1. Here's a brief excerpt, which I am forced to make redactions so that it isn't blocked immediately by the filters:

[Verse]
F-- you mean?
Young Gunna Wunna, they workin' my nerves
I'm about to pour up some syrup
F-- this b-- like a perv'
Smack from the back, grab her perm
Ice, the berg, uh, shi--' on all you lil' turds
Can't take that d!ck, wait your turn
In my own lane, we can't merge
Suck with no hands, you can learn
Let's see how much you can earn



This is the top one on SoundCloud right now. Now, imagine if a country singer were to produce something analogous.

I could easily go out and find a rap song glorifying violence or with an anti-government bent. I run listening to rap and can vouch that it's themes are not exactly a monument to progressive values.

When I hear all this anger about country music, I can't help but think that you really just dislike the audience, and the audience makes you afraid, and you need to try to justify it by pretending that song about working class woes is a coded call to arms. It's art. Relax.

Best post in the thread.

While I don't like the lyrics pp quoted above, I don't remember people who want to start a civil war loving this song either. That's the issue. It's not blue collar guys, it's blue collar MAGA guys who think it would be cool to take over the Capitol and start a civil war.

So you don’t see any negative outcomes to people listening to overtly sexist, violent songs? But you’re worried because people feel connected to this one?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Local governments impact their life more than Washington.

They should be pissed at their local officials.

Most of the folks getting hard to this song pay little to no federal income tax.

And all of the folks getting hard to the rap song PP listed also pay little to no tax AND steal a bunch of stuff!

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Who funds the government?

That’s right, the rich “men” up north. The doctors, lawyers, small business owners that employ the working class.

Got it.

The south now has a higher GDP than the north.

No, it has a larger GDP than the Northeast. That excludes so much of the Northern economy, and it includes places like Northern Virginia, the very place this guy is singing about. The Rich Men North of Richmond fuel the VA economy.

The south now has the largest GDP of any region. In fact, just 5 southern states alone outperform all other regions.

My condolences on the loss of your region's preeminent status.

And most are blue

Most southern states?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Shocking to learn that DC elites don’t like the song.

It’s literally a totally fake astroturfing campaign by the “elite” Conservative Inc apparatus.

It was obvious. All the top Con Inc grifters who first tweeted it out in coordinated en masse fashion don’t do anything for free.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:A “hero of the far right” blames his problems on heavyset women (because of course no men are 5’ 3” in the heroic sub-Richmond) on welfare and anyone is supposed to take this seriously? Really OP?

Angry white dude is misogynist, news at 11

It's because those are mostly the women who want to go out with him.

Where did he say anything about women in his song?

How many men are 5’3”?

Enough. About 10%.

Not in America. But sure let’s say it’s 10% You think he’s writing about men?

He is writing about obese people using their food stamps to purchase junk food that makes them more obese. Do you not get that? Do you not understand that he is slamming government programs that actually encourages this by putting few restrictions on the kind of food they can purchase?

He says nothing about change to government programs. He talks about obese people on food stamps.

How many of his ardent fans absolutely hated Michelle Obama’s efforts to make school lunches healthier? Bloomberg’s suggestion to tax sodas?

not sure his “ardent fans” would have been that focused on Bloomberg’s position on soft drinks. That’d more of an inside DC obsession.

New York.

But my broader point is, when there have been efforts to make taxpayer funding focus on healthy food, conservatives mocked it, resisted it, and hated it. Trump even rolled back the draconian provision that…required children be served fruits and vegetables.

So no, I don’t buy that now he’s just so upset about taxpayer dollars buying fudge rounds when he was telling to support taxpayer dollars buying pizza rolls.

When someone comes out with a song about worker and workplace protections, genuine tax relief for families, and sure even tackling making sure the poor have adequate access to healthy food, I hope there’s a thread about it— I can get behind it!

NYC but cheered on by DC policy people. He doesn’t seem to see the world through a center-left policy prism that revolves around government. I know that’s hard to imagine … but maybe just try?

Right— he seems to be mad at government for not mandating taxpayer dollars fund fruits and vegetables. Except
his supporters were also mad about…mandating taxpayer dollars fund fruits and vegetables.

Nope. Fruits and vegetables do not appear anywhere in his lyrics.

He’s worked up about his tax dollars and fudge rolls. Either he doesn’t believe in poor people having food assistance (good conservative position) or he thinks government should only fund nutritious food, which is Michelle Obamas position from 2014 that all the republicans hated. Pick a lane.

That’s your dichotomy, not his.

Just a basic familiarity with the political history beyond the Trump years show this as just the same old inconsistency.

huh?

If you remember or read about the Reagan years, you know there was “welfare queens” people were all worked up about— they did not exist.

Is you remember or read about the Obama years you know there was a concerted effort to target childhood obesity and make taxpayer dollars fund nutritious food for school children— two efforts which were vehemently opposed by republicans.

So some guy showing up and saying oh my god people are obese and tax dollars fund unhealthy food and pretending he’s original or that this isn’t something done deliberately by republicans is…either very misinformed, poorly read, or a hypocrite.

Tell me you haven’t been around poor people without telling me. Ever check out the Section 8 pads in NY, for instance?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:A “hero of the far right” blames his problems on heavyset women (because of course no men are 5’ 3” in the heroic sub-Richmond) on welfare and anyone is supposed to take this seriously? Really OP?

Angry white dude is misogynist, news at 11

It's because those are mostly the women who want to go out with him.

Where did he say anything about women in his song?

How many men are 5’3”?

Enough. About 10%.

Not in America. But sure let’s say it’s 10% You think he’s writing about men?

He is writing about obese people using their food stamps to purchase junk food that makes them more obese. Do you not get that? Do you not understand that he is slamming government programs that actually encourages this by putting few restrictions on the kind of food they can purchase?

He says nothing about change to government programs. He talks about obese people on food stamps.

How many of his ardent fans absolutely hated Michelle Obama’s efforts to make school lunches healthier? Bloomberg’s suggestion to tax sodas?

not sure his “ardent fans” would have been that focused on Bloomberg’s position on soft drinks. That’d more of an inside DC obsession.

New York.

But my broader point is, when there have been efforts to make taxpayer funding focus on healthy food, conservatives mocked it, resisted it, and hated it. Trump even rolled back the draconian provision that…required children be served fruits and vegetables.

So no, I don’t buy that now he’s just so upset about taxpayer dollars buying fudge rounds when he was telling to support taxpayer dollars buying pizza rolls.

When someone comes out with a song about worker and workplace protections, genuine tax relief for families, and sure even tackling making sure the poor have adequate access to healthy food, I hope there’s a thread about it— I can get behind it!

NYC but cheered on by DC policy people. He doesn’t seem to see the world through a center-left policy prism that revolves around government. I know that’s hard to imagine … but maybe just try?

Right— he seems to be mad at government for not mandating taxpayer dollars fund fruits and vegetables. Except
his supporters were also mad about…mandating taxpayer dollars fund fruits and vegetables.

Nope. Fruits and vegetables do not appear anywhere in his lyrics.

He’s worked up about his tax dollars and fudge rolls. Either he doesn’t believe in poor people having food assistance (good conservative position) or he thinks government should only fund nutritious food, which is Michelle Obamas position from 2014 that all the republicans hated. Pick a lane.

That’s your dichotomy, not his.

Just a basic familiarity with the political history beyond the Trump years show this as just the same old inconsistency.

huh?

If you remember or read about the Reagan years, you know there was “welfare queens” people were all worked up about— they did not exist.

Is you remember or read about the Obama years you know there was a concerted effort to target childhood obesity and make taxpayer dollars fund nutritious food for school children— two efforts which were vehemently opposed by republicans.

So some guy showing up and saying oh my god people are obese and tax dollars fund unhealthy food and pretending he’s original or that this isn’t something done deliberately by republicans is…either very misinformed, poorly read, or a hypocrite.

You remember a president named William Jefferson “Bill” Clinton? He signed a welfare reform bill supported by, among other groups, the DLC. I’m still not sure what nutritious school lunches have to do with it. If you read and/or listen to the lyrics, he’s pointing to a country that tolerates the unhoused not having anything to eat, while simultaneously paying for a food product called “fudge rounds” that is available for an allegedly obese individual. But that individual is not a school child.

Why write a song about homelessness when he clearly knows nothing about it? Has he researched the successful efforts Democrats have made to allow TANF funds to be used on fresh produce? Does he know what a food dessert is and whose policies create them?

The policies that create food deserts are massive shoplifting and/or looting which make it impossible for a grocery to survive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's a racist screed clearly advocating another Civil War. There's really nothing to understand.

Sorry, how’s it racist? You do know that Black people are patriots, often very family-minded, and hard workers? So where do you see the racism (hint: I think it’s YOUR racism showing).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Shocking to learn that DC elites don’t like the song.

It’s literally a totally fake astroturfing campaign by “elite” Conservative Inc apparatus.

I’m surprised it took this long for the reporting on this but thanks for posting. It seemed incredibly artificial.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh please. You people. This song SCARES you? There is no call to arms, no violence discussed, even obliquely.

Meanwhile, let's look at the #1 streamed rap song this week. And I'm a fan of rap, which is how I instantly knew to do some literary comparison.

Fukumean, by Gunna, is #1. Here's a brief excerpt, which I am forced to make redactions so that it isn't blocked immediately by the filters:

[Verse]
F-- you mean?
Young Gunna Wunna, they workin' my nerves
I'm about to pour up some syrup
F-- this b-- like a perv'
Smack from the back, grab her perm
Ice, the berg, uh, shi--' on all you lil' turds
Can't take that d!ck, wait your turn
In my own lane, we can't merge
Suck with no hands, you can learn
Let's see how much you can earn



This is the top one on SoundCloud right now. Now, imagine if a country singer were to produce something analogous.

I could easily go out and find a rap song glorifying violence or with an anti-government bent. I run listening to rap and can vouch that it's themes are not exactly a monument to progressive values.

When I hear all this anger about country music, I can't help but think that you really just dislike the audience, and the audience makes you afraid, and you need to try to justify it by pretending that song about working class woes is a coded call to arms. It's art. Relax.

Best post in the thread.

While I don't like the lyrics pp quoted above, I don't remember people who want to start a civil war loving this song either. That's the issue. It's not blue collar guys, it's blue collar MAGA guys who think it would be cool to take over the Capitol and start a civil war.

So you don’t see any negative outcomes to people listening to overtly sexist, violent songs? But you’re worried because people feel connected to this one?

Isn't there a PMRC you can join?

[Anonymous]

The song isn’t innocent blaming wealthy people up “north” and using the Confederate capital of Richmond as a central reference point. It’s another source of fuel to the fire burning on the Far Right.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh please. You people. This song SCARES you? There is no call to arms, no violence discussed, even obliquely.

Meanwhile, let's look at the #1 streamed rap song this week. And I'm a fan of rap, which is how I instantly knew to do some literary comparison.

Fukumean, by Gunna, is #1. Here's a brief excerpt, which I am forced to make redactions so that it isn't blocked immediately by the filters:

[Verse]
F-- you mean?
Young Gunna Wunna, they workin' my nerves
I'm about to pour up some syrup
F-- this b-- like a perv'
Smack from the back, grab her perm
Ice, the berg, uh, shi--' on all you lil' turds
Can't take that d!ck, wait your turn
In my own lane, we can't merge
Suck with no hands, you can learn
Let's see how much you can earn



This is the top one on SoundCloud right now. Now, imagine if a country singer were to produce something analogous.

I could easily go out and find a rap song glorifying violence or with an anti-government bent. I run listening to rap and can vouch that it's themes are not exactly a monument to progressive values.

When I hear all this anger about country music, I can't help but think that you really just dislike the audience, and the audience makes you afraid, and you need to try to justify it by pretending that song about working class woes is a coded call to arms. It's art. Relax.

They won't relax because they would rather perseverate over 2 lines in this song and attribute meaning to them that he never stated. All so they can call this man "misogynistic." Forget all the rap songs and even rock and roll that are really misogynistic.

Nah.... they don't like the man, his audience, or the message of the song. They cannot relate. Remember that you are talking about a large number of 1%ers here... they can't relate to the struggles of the working man.

Best to just discount him and his song than try to understand why his song speaks to millions.

Oh do enlighten us, Mike Rowe wannabe

I mean, isn't 7000 people showing up, spur of the moment, at a rural produce stand in a 'town' of 1100 not enough? The county population quintupled Saturday.

What do you need? Ten fold? Twenty fold?

So you’re one of those “rally size” people?

Trump rallies were huge until they weren’t. Biden didn’t hold them. One of them is President and one is under like four indictments.

Biden tried, but only 6 people would show up.

Yet he still won

Maybe, just maybe, it’s because we don’t need to waste our time going to a political rally..

The man didn’t even try. Why? Neither did Hobbs. Why?