Billy Bragg, one of the artists who recorded a response song to Oliver Anthony’s “Rich Man North of Richmond”. Via artist’s Bandcamp
The history of protest music has a long-standing tradition of songs written in response to other songs. For example, Woody Guthrie’s protest standard “This Land Is Your Land” was composed to critique Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America”. This also solicited a response from Indigenous activist Carolyn “Cappy” Israel who wrote the additional lyric (often performed by influential folk artist Pete Seeger) “But it once was my land / Before we sold you Manhattan Island / You pushed our nations to the reservation / This land was stole by you from me” drawing attention to the song’s failure to acknowledge that the land being referred to was stolen from indigenous people.
A more recent example of response tunes is in connection with Oliver Anthony’s viral hit “Rich Man North of Richmond”.
The tune resonated with many because it expresses the frustration of the working-class poor folks who feel exploited by the rich political elite. But it also received considerable criticism for parroting right-wing talking points. In particular, lyrics that were deemed as fatphobic and took shots at poor people on welfare raised much of the ire. It should be no surprise that multiple musicians have chosen to respond in song. Some composed completely new tunes, while others just tweaked some of the lyrics. Here are three notable examples.
Rich Men Earning North of a Million – Billy Bragg
It should be no surprise that the veteran British left-leaning singer-songwriter felt compelled to compose a pro-union response. Bragg basically kept the tune but revamped the lyrics. The following statement was posted on the song’s YouTube page: “Since I saw that clip of Oliver Anthony singing his song ‘Rich Men North of Richmond’, the ghost of Woody Guthrie has been whispering in my ear. “Help that guy out” Woody keeps telling me “Let him know there’s a way to deal with those problems he’s singing about”. So today I sat down and wrote this response to Mr Anthony’s song, for people like him and people like you.”
WelFare – Jesse Jett
This tune was recorded live during the August 17th episode of the Politically Homeless YouTube show hosted by the Indie News Network. The episode discussed the problematic elements of the lyrics, particularly the attacking of overweight people on welfare. The prolific singer-songwriter, poet, and rapper composed his own tune in response. Jett reframed the focus to address those on corporate welfare instead of “punching down on folks in food bank lines”.
Rich Man North of Richmond (Adapted) – David Rovics
In contrast with others on the left, the veteran protest singer-songwriter has a more favorable view of the tune. While mostly liking the tune, Rovics acknowledged a couple of troublesome lyrics and recorded a version that revised those lyrics so that they would punch up instead of punching down.
One of the lyrics he revised “Lord, we got folks in the street, ain’t got nothin’ to eat / And the obese milkin’ welfare” became “Lord, we got folks in the street, ain’t got nothin’ to eat / And the corporations milkin’ welfare”. The other lyric “Well, God, if you’re 5-foot-3 and you’re 300 pounds / Taxes ought not to pay for your bags of fudge rounds” Rovics completely revamped it as “If you got a silver spoon in your mouth and a private jet / Taxes ought not to pay for all the money you get.”