Try That in a Small Town, the newest song by country singer Jason Aldean, has caused quite a stir on the social media with the singer facing immense backlash. The music video is a combination of a news footage mostly from protests by the movement “Black Lives Matter” and lyrics such as: “Cuss out a cop, spit in his face / Stomp on the flag and light it up / Yeah, ya think you’re tough / Well, try that in a small town / See how far ya make it down the road,” and “Around here, we take care of our own / You cross that line, it won’t take long / For you to find out, I recommend you don’t.” Following the images, the video clip shows with a brief montage of grainy footage depicting peaceful townspeople and their crops and families.
The location where the video was filmed held a historical significance as it was the same where in the 1920s an 18-year-old African-American man named Henry Choate was lynched.
Following the accusations that the song and the lyrics were racist and pro-lynching, CMT pulled the music video but refused to comment on the reasons behind their decision.
The singer defended himself claiming he wasn’t a racist.
“In the past 24 hours I have been accused of releasing a pro-lynching song (a song that has been out since May) and was subject to the comparison that I (direct quote) was not too pleased with the nationwide BLM protests,” the country singer said on social media. “These references are not only meritless, but dangerous,” he further added.
The music video in question showed Aldean performing the controversial song in front of Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, Tennessee, with an American flag draped on the entrance.
There were plenty of comments on the social media by people calling Aldean “a racist who writes barely concealed lynching songs” and a “violent bigot,” while Variety dubbed the song was “the most contemptible country song of the decade.”
Aldean claimed his song and the music video never intended to “point to” race. The controversial lyrics were written by Kelley Lovelace, Kurt Allison, Neil Thrasher and Tully Kennedy.
“There is not a single lyric in the song that references race or points to it- and there isn’t a single video clip that isn’t real news footage -and while I can try and respect others to have their own interpretation of a song with music- this one goes too far,” Aldean said.
He added that Try That in a Small Town merely refers to the “feeling of a community” that he felt growing up. “We took care of our neighbors, regardless of differences of background or belief,” he said.
“My political views have never been something I’ve hidden from, and I know that a lot of us in this country don’t agree on how we get back to a sense of normalcy where we go at least a day without a headline that keeps us up at night,” Aldean clarified.
“But the desire for it to — that’s what this song is about,” he added.
Aldean first came under fire in 2021 when his wife Brittany made a public transphobic comments. Namely, through an Instagram post, she thanked her mom and dad for not changing her gender when she was going through a tomboy stage as a young child.
“Lmao!! I’m glad they didn’t too, cause you and I wouldn’t have worked out,” her husband commented on his wife’s video.
Further, Brittany said those parents who allow their children to change gander are “one of the worst evils” and her husband defended her publicly.
The criticism against Aldean comes amid his Jason Aldean’s Highway Desperado tour which started on July 14. On the second day of the tour, his concerts were rescheduled because he was hospitalized due to heatstroke.
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