Let’s know Jason Aldean Try That In A Small Town Controversy. A music video for the Jason Aldean song “Try That in a Small Town,” which was shot near a lynching site, has been taken down by Country Music Television after complaints that its lyrics and message are insensitive.
A mob lynched an 18-year-old Black man named Henry Choate there in 1927. The film, which was made public on Friday, was shot in front of the Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, Tennessee, and it is intercut with violent news footage, including demonstrations.
While strumming his guitar, Aldean lists examples of big-city behavior that would not be tolerated in a small town, like “carjack an old lady,” “cuss out a cop,” and “stomp on the flag.” The American flag is stretched between the main pillars of the structure.
As a result of complaints that the music video for Jason Aldean’s song “Try That In a Small Town” had lyrics that celebrated gun violence and promoted conventionally racist views, Country Music Television (CMT) has announced that it will no longer show the song.
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Jason Aldean Try That In A Small Town Controversy
On Thursday, a CMT representative told NPR that the change had been made but made no mention of its justification. Since the video’s publication on Friday, it has gained notoriety as a popular form of political litmus test, with the message’s interpretations typically falling along party lines.
The song was first released in May by Macon, Georgia-native Aldean, 46, but the conversation didn’t pick any steam until the release of the music video on July 14 to promote his upcoming 11th album.
The song depicts an “unspoken rule” for people reared in small towns, according to a statement made by Aldean that was released simultaneously with the music video: We all watch out for one another and have one other’s backs. The vocalist is not given credit as the song’s songwriter, as has been the case for most of his 27 top-charting hits.
The lyrics of the song begin with a list of crimes that might occur in urban settings (“Sucker punch somebody on a sidewalk / carjack an old lady at a red light”) before building to the song’s title chorus: “Threats to outsiders” (and the implication that those outsiders are from cities) are present throughout.
Try that in a small town first, though,” See how far you can get on the highway. Here, we look out for one another. It won’t take long if you cross that line. I advise against doing so since you could learn.
By mentioning gun rights as he transitions into the second chorus, Aldean ups the vigilante ante. They say they’re going to round up one day, the singer sings. My grandfather gave me a rifle. That s*** might fly in a metropolis, though. Good fortune. Try it in a small town, please.
Videos of vandalism, riots, and police contacts are intercut with shots of Aldean singing; many of these scenes are reminiscent of racial injustice demonstrations. Several of the clips have Fox News chyrons in them, while others, as several TikTok sleuths have noted, seem to be stock footage, often of gatherings from other nations.
However, most of the criticism of the video focuses more on its location than on these clips: The Maury County Courthouse building in Columbia, Tennessee, which serves as the band’s and Aldean’s stage backdrop.
The monument was the location of racial riots in 1946 as well as a 1927 lynching in which a white mob freed an 18-year-old black man, Henry Choate, from jail and drove him across the city, according to a number of media reports, including one in-depth description from The Washington Post.
Even though the 16-year-old white girl “could not positively identify him as the assailant,” Choate allegedly confessed to attacking her “to protect his life,” according to the Post. Aldean vehemently denied on Tuesday that he was “pro-lynching,” claiming that such a claim “goes too far” and is “dangerous.”
He claimed on Twitter that there was not a single line in the song that alluded to or alluded to race. “Try That In A Small Town” for me alludes to the sense of community I experienced as a child when we looked out for one another despite differences in background or beliefs.
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