English singer-songwriter Billy Bragg released his own pro-union song responding to Oliver Anthony’s hit “Rich Men North of Richmond” that became touted as a blue-collar anthem by conservatives after recently going viral.
Bragg’s clap back song titled “Rich Men Earning North of a Million” took a pro-union stance to address the struggles of “working folk,” complete with a push for free healthcare and a diss of divisive culture wars.
“If you’re selling your soul, working all day. Overtime hours for bulls— pay. Nothing is gonna change if all you do is wish you could wake up and it not be true,” Bragg sings in the first verse.
“Join a union. Fight for better pay. You better join a union, brother. Organize today. Where the problem really lies is when union comes around. Rich men earning north of a million want to keep the working folk down,” he continued.
“If you form a union you’ll soon find that working people are all one kind. So, we ain’t gonna punch down on those who need a bit of understanding and some solidarity. That ain’t right, friends.”
Further along, the song stresses rich men’s “total control” and takes a long jab at culture wars that are allegedly distracting from more important issues.”Know your culture wars are there to distract while libertarian billionaires avoid paying tax. You want to talk about bathrooms while the flood waters rise, the forest is on fire… They want to divide us because together we’re strong. Are you gonna take action now you sung your damn song? You don’t like the rich man having total control, you better get the union to roll,” he sings.
The message concludes at the end after spiels about billionaires avoiding taxes and questions like, “Wouldn’t it be better for folks like you and me if medicine was subsidized and medicine was free?” when Bragg says, regardless of where you live, the “rich man earning north of a million want to keep the working folk down.”Thousands attended Anthony’s free concert in North Carolina on Saturday, following the massive success of his original song, which garnered criticism from some for being divisive for allegedly depicting welfare recipients in a negative light.
Video of the song amassed nearly 30 million views since debuting earlier this month and reached number one on iTunes and number 41 on Spotify on August 19.
Despite criticism, Anthony told Fox News’ Griff Jenkins recently that the song is meant to be for everyone, not just one group of people, adding that it has touched the lives of many.
“They don’t have to be blue-collar Americans. I mean I’ve gotten messages from people in countries that I don’t know how to pronounce. This is something that has touched people globally and there’s a reason for that,” he said.
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