Rich Men North Of Richmond | Chords + Lyrics (capo 3)
Verse 1 (breakdown)
| Em | C |
I’ve been sellin’ my soul, workin’ all day.
| G | D5 (D6) |
Overtime hours for bullshit pay.
| Em | C | (start strumming)
So I can sit out here and waste my life away.
| G | D5 (D6) |
Drag back home and drown my troubles away.
Verse 2
It’s a damn shame what the world’s gotten to.
For people like me and people like you.
Wish I could just wake up and it not be true.
| G (G5) | D5 (D6) |
But it is, oh, it is.
Chorus
| Em | C |
Livin’ in the new world.
| G | D5 (D6) |
With an old soul.
| Em | C |
These rich men north of Richmond.
| G | D5 (D6) |
Lord knows they all just wanna have total control.
| Em | C |
Wanna know what you think, wanna know what you do.
| G | D5 (D6) |
And they don’t think you know, but I know that you do.
| Em | C |
‘Cause your dollar ain’t shit and it’s taxed to no end.
| G | D5 (D6) |
‘Cause of rich men north of Richmond.
Instrumental
| Em7 | C | G | D5 (Dadd4) |
Verse 3 (as verse 1)
I wish politicians would look out for miners.
And not just minors on an island somewhere.
Lord, we got folks in the street, ain’t got nothin’ to eat.
And the obese milkin’ welfare.
Verse 4
Well, God, if you’re 5-foot-3 and you’re 300 pounds.
Taxes ought not to pay for your bags of fudge rounds.
Young men are puttin’ themselves six feet in the ground.
| G | D5 | D5 |
‘Cause all this damn country does is keep on kickin’ them down.
Verse 5 (as verse 1)
Lord, it’s a damn shame what the world’s gotten to.
For people like me and people like you.
Wish I could just wake up and it not be true.
But it is, oh, it is.
Chorus
Livin’ in the new world.
With an old soul.
These rich men north of Richmond.
Lord knows they all just wanna have total control.
(breakdown 2nd half)
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.
Instrumental 2
| Em | C | G | D5 (D6) |
| Em | C | G | D5 |
Outro
| Em | C |
I’ve been sellin’ my soul, workin’ all day.
| G5 | D5 (D6) | Em |
Overtime hours for bullshit pay.
Rich Men North Of Richmond Chords: Learn the progressions
Based on a chord progression using only simple open-position chords with classic extensions, it’s the lyrics and honesty of the vocal performance which are allowed to shine.
What Oliver Anthony has done is placed a capo on fret 5, but his guitar is not in standard tuning, so if yours is, you need to place it on fret 3 and play these basic chords on a loop:
||: Em (VI) | C (IV) | G (I) | D5 (V) :||
It’s the extensions that make it an interesting guitar part, and as this can only be described accurately using TAB, you have to have that first.
Here’s a link to that part of the lesson: Rich Men North Of Richmond – Guitar Lesson with TAB.
Once you know how to apply the chord licks to Rich Men North Of Richmond‘s chords, you can use just the chords and lyrics above to remind you of when to add what lick.
There’s also the option to use a chord chart, here’s one I made for you.
Rich Men North Of Richmond Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro
The chord chart above is very simple on purpose. I didn’t want to indicate where you put what chord lick since this should be improvised.
Instead, I simply indicated how the instrumental section has slightly different extensions and then below the chords, put the arrangement as it appears.
Should you want to download this chart, here’s a PDF: Rich Men North Of Richmond Chart PDF.
This chord chart was created using iReal Pro, here’s a link to that file: Rich Men North Of Richmond iReal Pro.
Using this and the iRealPro app, you can change the key although in the case of this tune, I recommend you move the capo instead!
Is Rich Men North Of Richmond the song of 2023?
Oliver Anthony may have written the Song of 2023 with his straight-to-the-point, super-honest Rich Men North Of Richmond. Well, I thought so until The Beatles came back and released Now And Then!
An overnight worldwide success thanks to the internet and its heavyweight personalities Joe Rogan and Jordan Peterson, Oliver Anthony became a household name only a few weeks after the release.
At Spytunes, we have known for a long time that the secret behind every famous artist or band is their tunes, and in the case of Rich Men North Of Richmond, this has never been more obvious.
Recorded in the simplest way possible, Oliver Anthony has some tunes out there that were captured on his phone. He then uploaded the video to YouTube, ripped the audio from the video, and released that on Spotify!
This total lack of respect for the industry standard actually works in his favour as he sings about being a normal, ordinary, poor person, it feels more authentic simply because it is.
It has always been the case that what is most important for an artist is to have something to say.
Personally, I do my best to forget this bleedingly obvious fact every time I buy another pedal or expensive guitar, how about you?
Rich Men North Of Richmond Chords | Related Pages
Rich Men North Of Richmond | Guitar Lesson + TAB
In this guitar lesson, using four pieces of TAB and analysis, you’ll learn how to play Rich Men North Of Richmond in an improvised way, just like the original.
| Em | C |
I’ve been sellin’ my soul, workin’ all day…
Five similar tunes | Chords + Lyrics
- Another Lonely Day chords by Ben Harper
- Blowin’ In The Wind chords by Bob Dylan
- Chicken Fried chords by the Zac Brown Band
- Fast Car chords by Tracy Chapman
- The Needle And The Damage Done chords by Neil Young
Oliver Anthony tunes
An internet sensation in 2023, Oliver Anthony shot to fame overnight thanks to his protest song Rich Men North Of Richmond.
Performed on a Saturday for a radio station, it was uploaded the following Monday, and by Thursday it was a viral hit.
Oliver Anthony on the web
About me | Dan Lundholm
This was a guitar lesson about Rich Men North Of Richmond chords, by Dan Lundholm. Discover more about him and how you can learn guitar with Spytunes.
Most importantly, find out why you should learn guitar through playing tunes, not practising scales, and studying theory in isolation.
