One of the greatest things about music is the feeling you get when you connect with a song. I don’t just mean you listen to a song once and like the tune or beat, but you feel the message on a deep, emotional level, and can completely relate.
“I should be rich by now, but I’m not”.
When Brian John Harwood starts his latest banger “Rich” with those lyrics, let me tell you: I felt that on a deep level and immediately connected with the song.
I felt seen.
“Rich”, featuring Chris Labelle and Alli Walker, is the perfect song to kick off the summer season, whether you’ll be living it up on a yacht somewhere or relaxing at home.
It’s got an anthemic feel, and it’ll be hard to stop yourself from bobbing your head and waving your hands in the air to the chorus as if you were with 10,000 of your closest friends at a concert.
Harwood gets the song started highlighting the pitfalls of being broke, from being “neck high in cell phone bills and Netflix fees” and speaking to something a lot of Canadians can relate to: “this Lotto Max thing is taking too long”.
Side note – who among us hasn’t woken up the morning after a Lotto Max draw hoping “IS THIS MY DAY?” only to discover – nope. Looks like I’ll have to NOT be a millionaire for another week! See? I said I could relate to this song!!
The chorus is one you won’t soon get out of your head, and it’s followed by Chris Labelle cranking it up a notch with a rapid fire verse featuring some slick rhymes and clever wordplay.
It’s so quick and fun you’ll want to rewind over and over to pick up everything he’s mentioning, from dreaming of “bikinis and Lamborghini’s” , to being stuck “eatin’ weenies with mac and cheese, extra cheesy.”
Alli Walker breaks it down and brings it home with a nice, slightly slower change of pace, and ends it on a hopeful note. “I should be in California, on the coast in a Porsche, but I’m still drivin’ this Toyota.”
RELATED: Catch our conversation with Alli Walker when she joined us “On The Porch” …
But it’s not all sadness and regret, as she ends her verse with “But it’s alright, yeah it’s okay, ‘cause I’ma get there one day”. From a performance perspective, she’s never sounded better, and her verse instills the song with a sense of aspirational belief that, while it may take a bit longer than planned, dreams may still be able to come true.
How “Rich” Came To Be
Of the song, Harwood says “We’re just working-class artists making a working-class anthem. A couple of friends and I started joking about how we’ve been in the business for so long, we said hell, we all oughta be rich by now! It didn’t take us long to realize we had a song there.”
On a serious note, while the subject matter may sound dire, from declined credit cards to unrealized dreams – again, things a lot of people may be able to relate to – it’s handled in a way that is never disrespectful to the reality.
In fact, I found it refreshing to not only hear an artist be so vulnerable about a subject that’s not discussed a lot, and tackle it a such a fun way. As an audience, we’re usually shown the excess of success in the industry, so it’s nice to see an artist be so honest about the other side.
This dichotomy is perfectly captured in the newly released music video, showcasing the trio watching a tv that shows the ideal life they are singing about, from yacht parties to throwing cash to the wind dressed to the nines.
Watch The Music Video For “Rich”
“Rich” marks the first single for Brian John Harwood since his duet with Jason McCoy, “Savin Up for s Friday” earlier this year, another fist pumping anthem. With these two singles, Harwood is fast becoming the voice of working class folks everywhere who like to work hard and play harder.
RELATED: Have a listen to Brian and Jason’s single “Saving Up For A Friday” …
With “Rich”, Harwood solidifies his place as one of the most exciting voices in the Ontario Country music scene, and I can absolutely see his latest offering becoming one the biggest songs of the summer.
Check it out now – you’ll be richer for it!
Stream “Rich” By Brian John Harwood ft Alli Walker and Chris Labelle
Scott Sykes
Scott has been a lover of music his whole life, but being born and raised in small town Ontario helped solidify his love of Country music specifically. Drawn to the musicality and storytelling of Country Music, one of his passions is spreading the word about all the great talent Canada has to offer in this genre. Scott has an extending performing career, having acted in many theatre productions, sketch comedy, music videos and TV, and has hosted multiple global corporation seminars and awards ceremonies. While he is a classically trained pianist, he leaves music to the professionals, and basks in all their musical glory! A day without music is a waste of day, he believes, and can usually be found cranking some of his favourite Canadian artists like James Barker Band, Madeline Merlo, and Brett Kissel, and artists like Kip Moore and Ashley McBryde from south of the border on a daily basis.
