The Republican debate and Oliver Anthony's response regarding "Rich Men North of Richmond"

 I am going to make a few brief follow-up comments to my post of last week on Oliver Anthony's "Rich Men North of Richmond."  Because music is more fun and interesting than the general sturm und drang of daily American politics.  Amid the strange brouhaha over this song, I listened, enjoyed the music, and wrote my analysis that the commentariat is, as usual, wrong about everything.  The right has tried to claim the song as a conservative anthem, while the left has demonized Oliver Anthony as some right-wing agitprop mouthpiece.  I went through the song, line by line, and argued that the lyrics were neither liberal nor conservative.  They drew on themes common to left-wing ideologies throughout American history, tracing a folk music lineage back to Woody Guthrie, referencing Merle Travis's "16 Tons."  However, Anthony also commented on inefficiencies and structural issues in the welfare system, along with the new taboo of obesity.  Thus, listening without prejudice, by the technical definition of the word, one would classify the song as neither left nor right.  What happened?  Since the right has been so starved for any art that isn't far left, they latched onto the few lines that challenged left-wing dogma and tried to claim the song.  Then, both because the right claimed the song, and because of its own intolerance of ideological heresy, the left took an opposing position along battle lines and badda-bing-badda-boom, Bob's your uncle, instant culture war.

With everyone wrong about the actual lyrical content of the song.

Funnily enough, some jackass (jack-elephant?) decided to play the song at the Republican debate, under the impression that Anthony is their guy, and Anthony put out a video.  He... had notes.

(Does anyone remember when Reagan tried to use "Born In The U.S.A.?")

As it turned out, the leftists and right-wingers drawing battle lines were wrong.  Anthony said that the people on the stage were the rich men north of Richmond.  The villains.  He was not on their side.  He is not a conservative, and he doesn't take the positions the leftists accuse him of taking.  Basically, my interpretation of the lyrics was right.

Which is no great feat because the lyrics were not coded.  I did not decode James Joyce's Ulysses.  He was not trying to be coy or sly or anything.  He was singing it straight.  Culture warriors just weren't listening.  It was not a difficult song to interpret, and according to Anthony, most people get it right.  From what he hears, typical listeners and comments do not reflect a left versus right battle royale with Anthony as the right's chosen champion.  He did not take a scientific poll, but really.  It was not a hard song to understand if you listened in good faith.

Most people fighting over a damned song are just obtuse.

As a final note, when I wrote my commentary, I went on a bit of a lecture about SNAP and soda.  In his video, Anthony used soda as a specific example of policy structures.  Nice.  Turns out, he knows a few things, and he wasn't just spouting off.

When the battle lines are drawn, pay attention to who is drawing them and why.  It may be completely artificial.

Sometimes the guy singing a song is not, actually, a culture warrior, and if you try to drag him into it with bad faith interpretations, he'll tell you that you are wrong.  You are, of course, free to interpret any song, book, or work of art how you choose, but if you get belligerent about it, that's on you.  If you listen to him, he doesn't seem very belligerent.