A viral TikTok showed a montage of social media influencers listening with approval to Oliver Anthony’s “Rich Men North Of Richmond.”
The TikTok, which was posted Saturday, showed a multi-racial cohort of influencers listening to Oliver’s viral song and reacting positively. The influencers can be seen attentively absorbing the lyrics, nodding in agreement, bopping their heads to the rhythm and even dancing. Some influencers wiped away tears, visibly affected emotionally by the lyrics. (RELATED: The True Life Story Behind Mega Viral Country Hit ‘Rich Men North Of Richmond’ Sent Chills Up My Spine)
The montage, which was described as “heartwarming” by conservative political pundit Benny Johnson, received over 190,000 “likes” on Twitter, with over 23,000 users “bookmarking” it at the time of publication.
Some commenters noted “Rich Men North Of Richmond” has a universal message which resonates with Americans of all stripes.
@ricardocarrera22 ##wakeupamerica #defaundWASHINGTONDC #culturewar #americafirts #maga #🇺🇸 ♬ original sound – R. Carrera
“The great thing about this song is that it doesn’t matter what side of the isle you fall on we all feel this,” one TikTok user commented.
“This song, It’s uniting us,” another user commented.
“It’s the look on everyone’s face for me. All the same we’re all hurting and this song hits the soul for sure,” commented another TikTok user.
“[I]f that song doesn’t hit you right in the feels, you don’t know what is going on,” noted another Twitter user.
Anthony’s viral song, which highlighted the modern struggle of economic mobility for working class, rural Americans, has ignited an explosive discourse around race and cultural grievance. The song slams political elites in Washington, D.C. for failing to deliver for America’s lower classes, instead being focused on foreign affairs at the expense of everyday people.
The Philadelphia Enquirer dismissed the song as, “the musical embodiment of the late Lee Atwater’s famous riff on racial resentment politics in America.”
“Race resides between the lines of Anthony’s No. 1 hit on behalf of people south of Richmond, which was capital of the Confederacy, after all,” The Philadelphia Enquirer continued.
Some Black YouTubers came to a different conclusion than that of the Philadelphia Enquirer after listening to Anthony’s song.
In a reaction video, YouTube duo AsiaAndBJ commended the songs as “really deep lyricism” and said they could “feel what he was saying.”
YouTube influencer group CartierFamily said Anthony’s song “spoke facts” and that he “was talking about a lot that’s going on in society today.”
Youtuber Stevie Knight noted the “pain” and “emotion” apparent in Anthony’s voice. He agreed with the song’s critique of the “elites” and said Anthony, “can write his ass off.”