Some say the country tune is promoting dangerous rhetoric.
Country music is often thought to be a wholesome genre — but it depends on who’s defining the word “wholesome.” And that’s been particularly difficult to agree on when it comes to the new song by Grammy-winning star Jason Aldean, whose track “Try That in a Small Town” was getting heavy airplay on CMT until it was pulled following accusations that it glorified gun violence and racism.
Though Aldean’s known for singing about rural life, critics, particularly those on the liberal side, say his latest music video has gone too far this time, and the song has exposed yet another deep political divide with interpretations falling along party lines.
But despite being removed elsewhere, it’s still up on YouTube, where it has racked up 5.8 million views. Here’s a breakdown of why the song is at the center of so much controversy and what fellow musicians have said about it.
What is Jason Aldean’s song “Try That in a Small Town” about?
While Aldean said in a statement that his song is about the “feeling of a community” he had growing up, some people online have called out his single for being all kinds of problematic. (It’s worth noting that the country star isn’t actually credited with writing the song, but to be fair, this has been the case for most of his 27 hit singles.)
Let’s start with the lyrics, which some critics say tout violence. At one point, the country star sings: “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.” In another verse, he boasts about his having his grandfather’s gun. “Got a gun that my granddad gave me / They say one day they’re gonna round [them] up.”
Aldean also sings of a small town “full of good ol’ boys” who aren’t afraid of a confrontation. “If you’re looking for a fight / Try that in a small town,” he sings. American gun violence prevention activist and the founder of Moms Demand Action Shannon Watts pushed back against the sentiment, calling it dangerous rhetoric to promote at a time when gun violence continues to be at an all-time high.
Why did CMT pull Aldean’s music video?
In addition to the lyrics, Aldean’s music video for the song is also getting some heat, leading CMT to pull it from its usual rotation. Part of the backlash had to do with the fact that it was shot in front of the Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, Tennessee, which led to some calling it a “modern lynching song.” This is the same location where the Columbia Race Riot took place in 1946 and an 18-year-old Black teenager named Henry Choate was tragically lynched. (In a behind-the-scenes feature, the video’s producers say Aldean didn’t choose the location, which also happens to be the same location where some Lifetime and Disney movies have been filmed.)
As for the video itself, it showed Aldean and his band playing in front of the courthouse with an American flag and footage projected behind them. Many of these clips involved protests, particularly Black Lives Matter demonstrations that were in response to police violence at the time, including the murder of George Floyd in 2020. Others show attempted robbery of convenience stores, protesters destroying property, and other apparent crimes.
Then after two minutes of these violent images, the video ends with a brief montage of a seemingly peaceful small town and farmers tending to their crops.
What has been the reaction?
The song has not only gotten backlash from countless people on social media but it’s also been criticized by Democratic lawmakers and chapters of civil rights groups like the NAACP.
Even the country music world has tried to distance itself from Aldean. The Country Music Association aired prerecorded footage of Aldean playing “Try That In A Small Town” during its CMA Fest on Wednesday but it didn’t include the music video.
Fellow musicians, including Sheryl Crow, have already spoken out against it following its release on Monday. “There’s nothing small-town or American about promoting violence,” Crow tweeted a day after its release. “You should know that better than anyone having survived a mass shooting. This is not American or small-town-like. It’s just lame.”
At the same time, many conservatives, including Trump, have rushed to Aldean’s defense. “Jason Aldean is a fantastic guy who just came out with a great new song. Support Jason all the way. MAGA!!!” the former president posted on Truth Social.
Other Republicans have also defended Aldean, calling the backlash over the song hypocritical. Longshot GOP presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy said the same critics blasting “Try That in a Small Town” are the ones who glorified an Ice-T track called “Cop Killer” that conservatives wanted to ban in the early 1990s.
What has Jason Aldean said about the fallout?
Aldean fired back at his critics, saying allegations that he released a “pro-lynching song” are “not only meritless, but dangerous.”
“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 tweeted Tuesday.
Aldean also challenged accusations that he’s promoting gun violence, by noting that he survived a mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas in 2017, in which dozens were killed and hundreds of others were injured. “Our community recently suffered another heartbreaking tragedy,” he tweeted. “NO ONE, including me, wants to continue to see senseless headlines or families ripped apart.”
Yet he made no apology about his conservative viewpoints: “My political views have never been something I’ve hidden from.” Even though he used to be private about his beliefs, the 46-year-old became more outspoken during Trump’s presidency. According to The Washington Post, he attended a party with the former president at his Mar-a-Lago home, and also praised fans at one of his concerts in 2021 for not wearing masks during a coronavirus surge. Then again, Aldean was no stranger to controversy prior to Trump’s presidency: In 2015, he made headlines for dressing as rapper Lil Wayne and wearing blackface makeup, along with a wig with dreadlocks.
Like most cultural issues these days, there’s lots of disagreement over the intention behind Aldean’s new song. So much for the idea that music is the universal language.
