Sam Amico
Country superstar Jason Aldean felt the need to defend lyrics to his song Try That in a Small Town after the music video was pulled by CMT.
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For starters, the video for the song displayed protestors being put down by an American flag, giving some the idea that Aldean and the director were promoting violence. Or something like that.
Among those offering backlash — no less than long-ago rocker Sheryl Crow, who has dabbled in country music as well.
The song was actually released in May, but the three-minute video didn’t come out until last week. Along with masked protestors, it features a burning American flag, Molotov cocktails and CCTV robberies.
“Well, try that in a small town, see how far ya make it down the road,” Aldean sings.
That’s not all.
Per Axios: “The video was filmed in front of a courthouse in Columbia, Tennessee. Critics noted that a white mob lynched a young black man, Henry Choate, from the building in 1927.”
Aldean responded to the backlash by tweeting that the song is about small-town values — period.
“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,” he wrote.
“These references are not only meritless, but dangerous.”
He added that “Try That in a Small Town, for me,” he tweeted, “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.
“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. But the desire for it to — that’s what this song is about.”
That is where Crow came in.
“I’m from a small town. Even people in small towns are sick of violence,’ she responded. “There’s nothing small-town or American about promoting violence.
“This is not American or small town-like. It’s just lame.”
Aldean’s wife, Brittany, also got involved, sharing a selfie of the two of them on a beach with a caption that read, “Never apologize for speaking the truth.”
CMT pulled Aldean’s video just three days after it had been released. It is still available on YouTube and other platforms.
