Jason Aldean’s latest single and subsequent music video for the song “Try That In A Small Town” is receiving some negative press and hate online leading to CMT pulling the video. The controversy stems from people listening to the song or watching the video believing the songs/video is being in favour of gun violence and lynching. Critics have said that the lyrics and visual references in the video are evocative of vigilantism and racism.
The lyrics that appear to cause the problems for people are:
“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 / 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 / Try that in a small town.”
As well as:
“Got a gun that my granddad gave me / They say one day they’re gonna round up / Well, that s— might fly in the city, good luck/Try that in a small town.”
Aldean took to twitter in a lengthy post to respond to the criticism:
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. These references are not only meritless, but dangerous.…
— Jason Aldean (@Jason_Aldean) July 18, 2023
For the video release back on Friday would state along with it:
“When u grow up in a small town, it’s that unspoken rule of ‘we all have each other’s backs and we look out for each other.’ It feels like somewhere along the way, that sense of community and respect has gotten lost. Deep down, we are all ready to get back to that. I hope my new music video helps y’all know that u are not alone in feeling that way. Go check it out!”
Singer Sheryl Crow would comment about the video on twitter:
https://twitter.com/SherylCrow/status/1681485292425867264
The location of the video has been criticized as that scenes in the video were shot at the Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, Tennessee, where a Black man named Henry Choate, 18, was lynched in 1927. The site is also where the infamous Columbia Race Riot occurred in 1946.
The Production company for the video, Tacklebox, has stated in regards to people criticizing the filming location, that the location is popular filming location and that Jason didn’t select it. Tacklebox would cite many projects that have filmed there including the Lifetime Original movie “Steppin’ into the Holiday” with Mario Lopez and Jana Kramer, a music video from Runaway June “We Were Rich” and a Paramount holiday film “A Nashville Country Christmas” with Tanya Tucker, as well as the “Hannah Montana” film.
On the video itself I noticed a lot of praise for the song/video in the comment section, that they are claiming to be from all walks of life, stating they “approve” of the song/video.
Aldean has faced criticism for his politics as well as his wife’s comments in the past that were labelled as transphobic.
Here is the video in question, so you can decide for yourselves:
– Everett
