Oliver Anthony has taken issue with his song “Rich Men North Of Richmond” being used in a political fashion. The singer from Farmville, Virginia spoke out in a recent video about the skyrocketing success of his song. He says he doesn’t appreciate politics being mixed up with the song. Anthony mentioned conservative political pundits speaking as if he is one of them and also the RNC opting to use his song at the debate. He says that he is not left or right and that he wrote the song to criticize the very people on stage at the debate.
Some have taken issue with Anthony’s statements, including a recent tweet in which he told people who are debating the politics of the song to “not obsess” over him and to get some fresh air. There is also an issue with the obvious political nature of the song. By Anthony’s own admission, he wrote the song about politicians. So it is difficult, or maybe even impossible to remove politics from something that is inherently political.