Oliver Anthony, crooner of chart-topping “Rich Men North of Richmond,” believes the government won’t “save us.”
In an interview with the Free Press following the overnight success of his viral so-called blue collar anthem, the country singer said he hopes his music will inspire listeners to stop relying “on someone 150 or 500 miles away from them to solve their problems.”
“Nobody in Washington, D.C., no one in the federal government’s coming to save us,” he said, according to a clip posted to X, formerly known as Twitter.
“The people that are going to save us are each other.”
Anthony, who just released a new song Wednesday titled “I Want To Go Home,” claimed that families are “torn apart” due to the influx of technology.
“I’ve seen this in my own household at times,” he continued. “Where you’ll have a whole family under the same roof and instead of them spending time with each other and caring about each other, every one of them is sitting there just looking at their own piece of technology.”
He noted that people are “self-absorbed” in their devices rather than dedicating time to one another.
“That’s the real problem,” he said, adding that people are “disconnected” from each other due to the internet, which he previously called “a parasite that infects the minds of humans.”
Anthony’s bluegrass viral tune “Rich Men North of Richmond,” which has struck a chord with blue-collar workers, has drummed up more than 39 million views on YouTube as of Friday since it was shared over two weeks ago.
As the country crooner strums among the trees, he belts lyrics referencing hungry “people in the street,” “obese” citizens “milking welfare” and suicide rates of young men.
The politicized verses have been adopted by right-leaning figures, despite Anthony’s self-proclaimed centrist views.
“The hopelessness and frustration of our times resonate in the response to this song,” the chart-topper told Billboard. “The song itself is not anything special, but the people who have supported it are incredible and deserve to be heard.”
Despite his assumed distrust and dislike of wealthy politicians — some of whom have endorsed his song, such as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and former candidate for Arizona governor Kari Lake — the Hot 100 newbie is raking in an estimated $40,000 per day.
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