Singer songwriter Oliver Anthony experienced tribalism from both sides of the political spectrum after his song "Rich Men North of Richmond" became a right-wing media sensation.

Anthony wasn't well known before his populist ballad "Rich Men North of Richmond" became a hit. One YouTube video of the song posted August 8 currently has close to 49 million views and the song debuted at No. 1 on Billboards Hot 100 songs.

The chorus includes,

These rich men north of Richmond

Lord knows they all just wanna have total control

Wanna know what you think, wanna know what you do

And they don’t think you know, but I know that you do

‘Cause your dollar ain’t shit and it’s taxed to no end

‘Cause of rich men north of Richmond

It's easy to see who the song is about. A two-hour drive north of Richmond on I-95 would put you in Washington, DC. (Perhaps longer given the nightmare traffic in that area.) There are active left-wing and right-wing populist movements in American politics today and there are elements of both in the lyrics.

Given that the MAGA-right often presents itself as the voice of the working class, it's easy to see why they would imagine Anthony to be part of their tribe. But after Fox News used a clip of the song to ask the first question at the first Republican presidential debate, Anthony put the kibosh on the notion he's a right-wing hero.

"It's aggravating to see people on conservative news try to identify with me, like I'm one of them. It's aggravating seeing certain musicians and politicians act like we're buddies and act like we're fighting the same struggle here, like we're trying to present the same message," Anthony said in a video posted Friday to YouTube.

"It was funny seeing my song at the presidential debate, because I wrote that song about those people," he later added about the Republican presidential candidates at the debate.

Of course, many on the left took delight in this turn of events, highlighting the quotes above. But Anthony had also had a response to reactions he had previously received from the left.

"I see the right trying to characterize me as one of their own and I see the left trying to discredit me, I guess in retaliation. That shit's gotta stop," Anthony said before explaining why he thinks many on the left misunderstood his lyrics.

I don't know if "retaliation" is the right way to put it. But I suspect most of the left-wing negative reactions to the song was due to tribalism. When we're driven by tribalism, sometimes called negative partisanship or hyper-polarization, our views are determined more by who we're against than what we're for.

Imagine experiencing what Anthony experienced — getting attacked by Tribe A simply because Tribe B praised you, even though you don't identify with either tribe. His frustration is understandable. Let’s use this episode to remind ourselves to avoid tribal thinking.

I trust that Anthony is being genuine about his feelings for one simple reason — he could've easily cashed in on his right-wing fame by becoming a fixture on the right-wing conference and media circuit, as so many others have done, but he chose not to. Given the lack of self-awareness in politics these days, I imagine he could've even opened for the most famous rich man from north of Richmond — Donald Trump.

You can watch the whole video here:

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