Anthems for America

The Art Right is Rising!

Music is the closest most of us will ever come to encountering magic. The ability for a progression of string vibrations or blasts of air or beats on the floor to dramatically influence our emotions is inexplicable from a materialist perspective. Somehow we can be made to exult, to weep, to rage, to dance, to pray — by sound. Melodiousness is next to godliness. Songs are spiritual weapons in the war for the soul.

Since the 1960s, those weapons of mass percussion have armed the fighters of the Left. But now that is changing.

Unless you’ve been in monastic contemplation in the desert for the last week, you’ve heard of the song Rich Men North of Richmond by Oliver Anthony. The anthem of working class anger has skyrocketed to #1 on iTunes and reached over 13 million viewers on YouTube in six days. The song is powerful and it deserves the acclaim it is receiving. It may be, to quote Matt Walsh, “the protest song of our generation.”

But Rich Men North of Richmond is not an isolated phenomenon. It arrives merely weeks after Jason Aldean’s Try That in a Small Town went viral and topped the charts, which in turn came after Boycott Target, which also hit #1 on iTunes.

And those songs are just the most well-known of a wave of music created by right-leaning songwriters and performers. What Rachel Haywire calls the Art Right has gained a musical wing, and that wing has suddenly emerged as a phenomenon of mass culture.

With the assistance of my musically-talented wife, I’ve compiled a playlist of the greatest songs of the right-wing musical counter-revolution. Some of these songs were explicitly written as political statements. Others have unintentionally transcended their purpose and become anthems. I’ve included a mix of folk, country, and rap, which are the three genres where the musical Art Right is emerging as a powerful force. I’m presenting them in reverse chronological order, with the newest songs first.

I hope you listen to them. I hope you share them. And I hope you turn up the volume and spread the word. Syncopate this on the tempo of woe!

There’s countless other amazing songs out there by artists who share our values. Share your favorites in the Comments!