![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/cdn.christianpost.com\/assets\/img\/icon\/chat-rect.svg\")
<\/a>![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/cdn.christianpost.com\/assets\/img\/icon\/share-outline.svg\")
<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n![](\"https:\/\/cdn.christianpost.com\/images\/cache\/image\/15\/01\/150135_w_760_368.webp\")
<\/source><\/picture>The singer behind the anthem \u201cRich Men North of Richmond\u201d attributes the song’s success to \u201cdivine intervention\u201d as he insists that its lyrics were not directed at one particular political party.<\/p>\n
In a YouTube video<\/a> released Friday, Oliver Anthony proclaimed, \u201cIt\u2019s my belief that divine intervention has put me in this position at this point in time to get a message across, and that\u2019s all there is to it.\u201d His song<\/a> \u201cRich Men North of Richmond\u201d hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100<\/a> for two weeks in a row, a coveted position reflecting its popularity among the American public.<\/p>\n Additionally, \u201cRich Men North of Richmond\u201d is at the No. 2 spot on the top 100<\/a> on the iTunes charts, another measure of popularity. The song is written from the perspective of an overworked blue-collar worker who believes that \u201cRich Men North of Richmond\u201d want to have \u201ctotal control\u201d over every aspect of his life.\u00a0<\/p>\n Although the song does not elaborate on who the phrase \u201cRich Men North of Richmond\u201d refers to, it is widely understood as a shot at career politicians and bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. Anthony, who was relatively unknown before \u201cRich Men North of Richmond\u201d became a major hit, explained that \u201cthe one thing that has bothered me is seeing people wrap politics up into this.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n According to Anthony, \u201cIt\u2019s aggravating seeing people on conservative news try to identify with me like I\u2019m one of them. It\u2019s aggravating seeing certain musicians and politicians act like we\u2019re buddies and act like we\u2019re fighting the same struggle here.\u201d<\/p>\n While Anthony did not single out any politician, media personality or musician by name, his song came up at last week\u2019s Republican presidential debate<\/a>. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis praised the song as an illustration that \u201cour country is in decline\u201d and that \u201cthis decline is not inevitable\u201d but rather \u201ca choice.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI wrote that song about those people,\u201d Anthony insisted. \u201cFor them to have to sit there and listen to that, that cracks me up.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n He further rejected the premise that the song was a critique specifically directed at President Joe Biden: \u201cThat song has nothing to do with Joe Biden. \u2026 It\u2019s a lot bigger than Joe Biden.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat song was written about the people on that stage and a lot more too. Not just them but definitely them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Anthony acknowledged that despite his intentions, the song has become a political football: \u201cI see the Right trying to characterize me as their own, and I see the Left trying to discredit me, I guess in retaliation.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat sh–s got to stop,\u201d he declared. At the same time, he expressed gratitude that his song received \u201csuch [a] positive response from such a diverse group of people.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Anthony discussed his faith in a previous video <\/a>he posted on his YouTube account three weeks ago, one day before the song\u2019s release. \u201cI spent a long time being angry, an angry little agnostic punk, and I remember talking about \u2018sky daddy\u2019 and \u2018cloud papa,\u2019\u201d he recalled.<\/p>\n \u201cI would get so angry about the concept of God because I had sort of perverted what my version of God was because I looked at the religion of man as God and not God Himself,\u201d Anthony added. \u201cThere is a divine creator that loves you, and sometimes it takes falling down on your knees and getting ready to call things quits before it becomes obvious that He\u2019s there.\u201d<\/p>\n Anthony added, \u201cHe\u2019s always there, you just got to look out for Him.\u201d The \u201cabout\u201d section on Anthony\u2019s website also mentions the artist\u2019s faith in God, lamenting that \u201cwe have lost our way from God and have let false idols distract us and divide us.\u201d The singer\u2019s website<\/a> also elaborates on his personal background, noting that he \u201cworked outside sales in the industrial manufacturing world\u201d for about a decade until his song took off.<\/p>\n He cited his work traveling \u201call over Virginia and into the Carolinas, getting to know tens of thousands of other blue-collar workers on job sites and in factories\u201d as the inspiration for his song. \u201cPeople are so damn tired of being neglected, divided and manipulated,\u201d Anthony concluded.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n