Freedom might mean struggle, but that’s just fine for country music star John Rich.
Rich recently sat down for an interview with Fox News host Tucker Carlson and said that fighting to breathe life into a dream is what makes America the special place it is to him.
“We’re not guaranteed the right to be happy. We’re guaranteed the right to pursue happiness,” he said, according to Fox News.
“You’re not always happy when you’re pursuing it, but you ought to be happy that you’ve got a right to at least go for it. We should take advantage of that in this country, that we have the right to pursue happiness and absolutely exhaust our potential every chance we get,” he said.
During the show, he and Carlson walked down the winding road of Rich’s life and career. There were some poignant moments, he wrote in an Instagram post.
“Last night I got to see a picture of my Granny, and WWII Army Veteran Papaw Rich on @TuckerCarlson and my eyes filled with tears,” he posted.
In his interview, Rich said too many Americans want the rewards the nation offers without putting in the work to earn it.
“You have to struggle and suffer to go get these big things, and I think people these days think that if they don’t get what they want when they want and exactly how they want it, they’re gonna throw a brick through my window,” he said, Fox reported.
Have you listened to any of John Rich’s songs?
“They’re never gonna accomplish anything that’s truly great because they don’t understand what it takes to go get it. They’re not willing to bleed for it,” he continued.
In a clip Carlson shared on Twitter, Rich bemoaned what has been done in the name of progress.
Without a record label, @johnrich‘s newest song #PROGRESS went straight to number 1. Rich believes it’s about having the right message at the right time. Pt 2 of our interview streams exclusively on @foxnation – plus: unlock free sign-up offers only at https://t.co/voL1YtzIDW pic.twitter.com/uAHzSXxbGk
— Tucker Carlson Today (@TuckerToday) August 24, 2022
“If that is their version of progress, what are they progressing toward?” he said.
“My version of progress says, ‘Leave me alone, let me go out and work, let me fail, let me succeed, leave me in peace. Leave me alone. And leave my neighbor alone, who I disagree with by the way. Leave them alone, too. Leave us all alone.’”
Rich noted that his song “Progress” pushes back at what liberals call progress.
“There’s a hole in this country. Where its heart used to be,” Rich sang in the song that topped the iTunes chart shortly after its release. “Old Glory’s divided, on fire in the streets.”
“They say, ‘Building back better will make America great. If that’s the wave of the future, all I’ve got to say …”
The song then erupts into the catchy and memorable chorus, and just like in the verse, the messaging is hardly subtle.
“Stick your progress where the sun don’t shine,” Rich sang. “Keep your big mess away from me and mine. If you leave us alone, well we’d all be just fine. Stick your progress where the sun don’t shine.”
