Country star Jason Aldean responded to a backlash over his new music video for his song, “Try That In A Small Town,” in which he slams leftist policies like gun control, soft-on-crime governance, and more.
The 46-year-old country singer released the music video for his new three-minute ballad on Friday, which deals with riots in the United States, as well as the random violence in some of the country’s biggest cities since 2020. The song takes a somber tone as Aldean opens the video standing in front of a government building with images from a news report of a carjacking displayed behind him. Headlines then surfaced claiming the song was “pro-lynching,” “racist,” and more.
The country star posted a lengthy statement on Twitter on Tuesday slamming these claims as “meritless” and “dangerous.”
“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,” Aldean tweeted. “These references 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,” he added.
“As so many pointed out, I was present at Route 91-where so many lost their lives- and our community recently suffered another heartbreaking tragedy,” Aldean continued. “NO ONE, including me, wants to continue to see senseless headlines or families ripped apart.”
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The country star wrote that this song is about the “feeling of a community that I had growing up, where we took care of our neighbors, regardless of differences of background or belief. Because they were our neighbors, and that was above any differences.”
He concluded his post by noting how his “political views” are well known, but this song is about something bigger.
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“…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 wrote. “But the desire for it to- that’s what this song is about.”
Throughout the new music video, clips of news reports show looters and rioters during the 2020 riots that took place in Aldean’s native home of Georgia, Yahoo.com noted.
Lyrics read things like, “Sucker punch somebody on a sidewalk/Carjack an old lady at a red light/Pull a gun on the owner of a liquor store/Ya think it’s cool, well, act a fool if ya like…”
And, “Cuss out a cop, spit in his face/Stomp on the flag and light it up/Yeah, ya think you’re tough…”
Another verse deals with gun rights, “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…”
The song concludes with a reference to how the small town is “full of good ol’ boys, raised up right/If you’re looking for a fight…”