I agree. Nearly every lyric in that song, when isolated, sounds fine and agreeable. Even when he attacks people on welfare "if you're 5'- 3 and 300lbs, taxes ought not to pay, for your bags of fudge rounds." Isn't wrong.

Taxes shouldn't be used by fat cats to get fatter. But he isn't saying that. He is punching down and attacking a group of people who are suffering in "the new world" just like him, and a fucking bag of cookies is one of the few joys they can still aquire. He could have chosen to attack the elite, even if he only meant the ones to the North. He didn't.

"It's a damn shame, what the world's gotten to, for people like me, and people like you."

Sounds great. Now picture his audience. Who are they, and who are they thinking of when they hear that line?

This song is called "Richmen North of Richmond." It's the Northerner's fault all these bad things are happening.

It's that movie with Rowdy Piper and the glasses. You have to put them on to see the whole message. Dog whistling at its finest.

If he had made a few small changes it could have been a powerful pro-worker lament and I would be playing it to death. Instead it was #11 on Trump's "Standing on the stage for 44 minutes swaying back and forth because America is so easy to con so why not?"

It's a damn shame.