Jason Aldean’s new single music video “Try That In a Small Town,” released back in May, has been pulled by the CMT. The music video takes a strong stand against the recent riots and rising lawlessness in the United States.
Featuring Aldean performing in front of a courthouse amid interspersed footage of “a flag burning, protesters screaming and attacking police in various scenarios, and robbing a convenience store, “ the video juxtaposes these violent images with more harmonious scenes, like a girl playing hopscotch and a raised American flag. The song takes issue with several lyrics where Aldean calls out criminals and rioters directly.
The song is an often-confrontational take, with lyrics challenging those who “carjack an old lady at a red light” or “pull a gun on the owner of a liquor store” or “cuss out a cop” to try that in a small town and “see how far ya make it down the road/ around here, we take care of our own.”
In a later verse, Aldean, sings, “Got a gun that my granddad gave me/ They say one day they’re gonna round up/ Well, that sh-t might fly in the city/ Good luck.” Written by Kelly Lovelace, Tully Kennedy, Neil Thrasher, and Kurt Michael Allison the video sung by Aldean has risen to the top of the charts.
In fact, Aldean’s headline-making hit occupies the No. 1 spot on iTunes’ Top Songs and Music Videos charts as of Wednesday evening, despite accusations it’s racist and “pro-lynching.” And according to Billboard, the video has since received 346,000 views on YouTube.
After CMT removed it from circulation on Tuesday, in a lengthy message on his Instagram Stories,
Aldean addressed the controversy over his song-
“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
Asserting that he never brought race into the song and that he used real news footage, Aldean said-
“NO ONE, including me, wants to continue to see senseless headlines or families ripped apart. … ‘Try That In A Small Town,’ for me, refers to the feeling of a community that I had growing up, where we took care of our neighbors, regardless of differences of background or belief,”.
-Jason Aldean
In recent support of his colleague, country music icon Travis Tritt, said the following to Aldean of his song –
“I would also like to remind my friend Jason Aldean that Twitter and social media in general is not a real place. The view shared by many accounts on this platform are not actually representative of the vast majority of the population of this country. Say what you want and be who you want to be. Damn the social media torpedoes.”
-Travis Tritt
“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.”
-Ronald Reagan