Oliver Anthony Shares Bible Verse During First Public Performance Since Going Viral | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's Note: This post appears here courtesy of the The Daily Wire. The author of this post is Amanda Harding.

    Virginia farmer Oliver Anthony, who became an overnight sensation last week with his song "Rich Men North of Richmond," opened a recent performance by reading a Bible passage.

    Anthony's song about the frustrations of the working class jumped to the top of the iTunes charts, generating more than 9 million plays in just five days.


Anthony Oliver playing his resonator guitar: Above.
    On Sunday, the indie singer played his first public concert since the song went viral and attracted a huge crowd. He opened the performance by reading from the Book of Psalms.

    "The wicked plot against the righteous," he read. "And gnash their teeth at them but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he knows their day is coming. The wicked draw the sword and bend the bow, to bring down the poor and needy, to slay those whose ways are upright. But their sword shall pierce their own hearts, and their bows shall be broken."

    "Better the little that have righteousness than the wealth of many wicked. For the power of the wicked will be broken but the Lord upholds the righteous. The blameless spend their days under the Lord's care and their inheritance will endure forever."

    Besides sharing Bible passages, Anthony reflected on his meteoric rise to fame. "It's crazy to me, because I remember back in June I played for about 20 people. But that's the beautiful part of this country, though, even an idiot like me can make something happen," he told the assembled crowd. "If I can do it, you can do it."

    The farmer's message has resonated with audiences who say it feels authentic, unlike so much of the music produced today.

    The lyrics say, "I've been sellin' my soul workin' all day, overtime hours for bulls*** pay, so I can sit out here and waste my life away, drag back home and drown my troubles away. It's a damn shame what the world's gotten to for people like me and people like you."

    The song comes down hard on taxes, the welfare system, and rising suicide rates. It also seems to reference Jeffrey Epstein's child sex trafficking crimes.

    In a separate YouTube video, Anthony said his political views are "pretty dead center" and that Democrats and Republicans "serve the same master."

    "People are just sick and tired of being sick and tired," he said. "So yeah, I want to be a voice for those people."