The song only lasts three minutes – the debate about it lasts several weeks. A US culture war erupts over Jason Aldean’s new song “Try That in a Small Town”. Critics accuse the singer of calling for lynch law, Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis celebrate the song.
It’s May 19th when Jason Aldean begins a new chapter in the ever-expanding Kulturkampf in the United States. Aldean, one of the country’s best-known and best-loved country musicians, has released a new single, “Try That In A Small Town.” It’s the first song the 46-year-old has released this year and it’s raising hopes for a new album among his fans. Aldean proudly announces the release on social media. “To me the song sums up how a lot of people are feeling right now. It feels like bad things are happening on a daily basis and for a lot of us it feels unfamiliar. This song sheds a light on that,” Aldean wrote on Instagram.
What “things” Aldean means becomes clear if you listen closely to the song. Aldean sings about the conditions in the big cities, where chaos and riots were the order of the day. Aldean plays with the Republican narrative, popularized by ex-President Donald Trump, that the big US cities are real hellholes where laws no longer apply, while law and order still prevail in the countryside. Just days ago, Trump lashed out at Washington when he was charged in the capital with trying to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Trump referred to Washington DC on his network Truth Social as a “filthy, filthy, falling apart and very unsafe city” before spreading the lie that he had been arrested by his political opponents. The fact that the big cities are mostly ruled by Democrats, while rural regions are often firmly in Republican hands, is almost self-evident given the narrative style.
Jason Aldean: “Try that in a small town” alludes to conservative values
Aldean alludes to primal Republican themes, singing about the gun he inherited from his grandfather that “they” want to take away from him. Who “you” are remains unclear, but it is likely a reference to the Democrats, who are calling for a tightening of lax gun laws in the USA and a reference to the conspiracy theory that the government wants to take guns away from Americans. Aldean experienced gun violence first hand. In October 2017, he was on stage at the Route 91 Harvest festival in Las Vegas when a man opened fire on the crowd, killing 60 people. To date, it remains the deadliest shooting in United States history.
However, the release of the song itself did not cause an outcry in the United States. Contrary to other songs by the country star, “Try That in a Small Town” was anything but a chart topper – until Aldean released the video for the song in mid-July and poured oil on the previously only smoldering fire. The 46-year-old stands with his band in front of a building on which images of unrest, looting and attacks on police officers are projected. The creators may not have noticed that some of these recordings are not from the USA at all, but were filmed in Canada. But the biggest criticism came from a clip of Black Lives Matters protests shown on the building — a Maury County courthouse where a black man was lynched by white mobs and hanged from a courthouse window in 1927.
Music professor: Aldean uses racist stereotypes
Aldean was quickly accused of calling for vigilantism and lynchings with text and video. “I’m from a small town. Even people in small towns are sick of violence. There’s nothing small town or American about encouraging violence. You who survived a shooting should know that better than anyone,” explained country star Sheryl crow There’s nothing American or small-town about his song. “It’s just lame.” Crow hails from Kennett, Missouri, a town of around 10,000 people. Aldean grew up in Macon, Georgia, a city of just under 156,000 and now lives in Nashville.
“As someone who’s spent most of his life living in towns of under 1000, this reads like Jason Aldean is about to lynch someone. I wonder if he’s some racist, adulterous, alcoholic piece of shit?” wrote a user on Twitter. “What Jason’s really trying to say is, ‘I’m scared of black people. I miss all-white enclaves,'” wrote another user. Shannon Watts, the founder of the anti-gun movement Moms Demand Action also spoke up Twitter her displeasure: “Jason Aldean, who was on stage during a shooting in Las Vegas, released a song about how he and his friends want to shoot you if you try to take their guns away.”
Philip Ewell, a professor of music theory at Hunter College in New York, told The Hollywood Reporter that the song hides racial stereotypes. As an example, he uses the line “Threaten the owner of a liquor store with a gun.” “Someone who robs a liquor store — in the minds of Americans, without saying it, that’s a black person. It’s gotten stuck in our minds, it has to be,” Ewell said. Putting a line like that in a song reinforces the image that the perpetrator is black and the shopkeeper is white or Asian. “Everyone should understand that there is a strong racist undertone in the song. The race is part of the lyrics. I think that’s pretty obvious,” says the music professor.
Don Cusic, music professor and country music historian at Belmont University in Nashville, takes a similar view. “What upsets people is the scrambled language and images. Someone in a hoodie robbing a store could also be white, but the implications go far beyond that. If you’re black, you have a very different perspective on the video as a white man,” Cusic said. He also sees no coincidence behind the video, but an intention. “They knew what they were doing with that video. There’s a huge wall in this country now that divides the United States. And instead of taking a few bricks from that wall, Aldean put more bricks on top of it — or at least he did video done.”
The musician defended himself on Twitter against the allegations. “I’ve been accused of releasing a pro-lynching song and not liking the Black Lives Matter protests. These allegations are not only unfounded, they’re dangerous,” Aldean said. There is not a single line in his text that refers to race or refers to it and all video snippets shown came from the news, the musician defended himself. For him, the song is a reference to the feeling of community in which he grew up. A neighborhood where people helped each other, “regardless of faith or background”.
Trump and DeSantis support country star
The fact that Aldean doesn’t keep his political views under wraps is nothing new in the United States. At the start of his tour in autumn 2021, Aldean announced to the hooting fans that the “best news is that none of you are wearing a mask” – at a time when the next wave of corona swept across the United States. When Aldean’s wife Brittany caused a stir last year with transphobic statements, not only did some stars of the country scene turn against the couple, Aldean was also dropped from his PR firm.
In addition to the support of many country music fans, Aldean has had the backing of leading Republicans. “If the liberal media attacks you, then you’ve done something right. Jason Aldean doesn’t have to apologize for anything,” wrote presidential candidate Ron DeSantis Twitter. Ex-President Donald Trump also joined in the hymns of praise. “Jason Aldean is a fantastic guy who just released a great new song. You have to support Jason,” Trump demanded on his social network Truth Social. During his campaign in Erie, Pennsylvania, the full video was played on a video cube prior to Trump’s appearance.
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem said she was “shocked at the attempt to cancel Jason and his faith.” Noem, who recently told a gun lobby NRA conference that her two-year-old granddaughter has a shotgun that she will need soon, posted on Twitter a message to Aldean. “I want him and his wife to know that we support him. We love them. Thank you for writing a song that America can unite behind,” Noem said, inviting Aldean to a concert in front of her official residence play.
“Try that in a small town” jumps to the top of the US charts
The musician’s record company also noticed that the combination of song and video of “Try that in a small town” went too far. Four days after the video was released, CMT, one of the country’s most important country music broadcasters, removed the video from its program and the record company exchanged the original video for a new one on YouTube. The 182-second video no longer includes the scenes of the Black Lives Matter protests. The debate about the song continues unabated.
For Aldean, the headlines have paid off. The song was actually only known to the fans before it was published in the video, but it is now storming the hit lists. As of this week, “Try That in a Small Town” has been at the top of the Billboard charts, the country’s most important hit list – it is Aldean’s first hit to reach number one on the Billboard 100. And the 46-year-old’s current tour is also benefiting from the culture war over his new song: almost all the arenas are sold out.
Sources: Washington Post, CNN, Hollywood reporters, Guardians, Toronto Sun, NPR, Newsweek