Jason Aldean responds after music video pulled from CMT
While Jason Aldean’s “Try That in a Small Town” came out earlier this year, the song gained renewed attention when the music video was released.
WASHINGTON – CMT has pulled a music video for a Jason Aldean song as criticism of the lyrics and music video continues to mount, the network has confirmed to multiple outlets.
Song, “Try it in a small town,” was first released in May, but received much attention — and criticism — after the accompanying music video was released on July 14.
Before it aired on Monday, the music video is said to have received multiple views on the Country Music Television network. When the song was first released, Aldean promoted it by saying on Twitter that it “summarizing how many people perceive the world today.”
The music video includes footage from the store’s surveillance security cameras showing robberies and footage from protests against police brutality. Critics have suggested that the song has lyrics that promote violence and wariness. At one point, Aldean sings about “the gun my grandfather gave me” and alludes to gun control measures.
As part of the song Aldean sings:
“Shoot the cop, spit in his face
Stamp the flag and light it up
Well, you think you’re tough
Well, try that in a small town
See how far you’ve come on the road
Around here, we take care of ourselves
You cross that line, it won’t take long
For you to find out, I advise you not to
Try that in a small town.
Besides the lyrics, critics pointed out that the music video shot in front of Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, Tennessee. The courthouse was the site of the execution of Henry Choate, a black man, and the Columbia Race Riots of 1946, among other incidents of racial violence.
Some have gone as far as liken it to a song about lynching.
On Tuesday, the day after the song aired, country singer Sheryl Crow tweeted a rebuke of its message.
“I come from a small town. Even people in small towns are sick of violence,” Crow wrote. “There’s no such thing as small-town or Americans encouraging violence. You should know that better than anyone who’s survived a mass shooting. This isn’t American or small-town. It’s just lame. “
Crow was born in Kennett, Missouri, which has a population of about 10,000. Aldean grew up in the mid-sized city of Macon, Georgia, which has a population of about 153,000.
She also referenced Aldean’s experience at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas in 2017. As he was performing on stage, a gunman started opening fire on the crowd from a nearby hotel, killed 58 people.
Aldean took to Twitter Tuesday, double the message of the song but denies that it is a call to violence or is aimed at any particular race.
“For me, Try That In A Small Town is about feeling like a community I grew up in, where we care about our neighbors, regardless of background or beliefs. ,” Aldean wrote. “Because they are our neighbors, and that goes beyond any differences. My political views have never been one that I hide, and I know that many of us in This country disagrees on how we get back to meaning.” about the ordinary where we go at least a day without a title that keeps us up at night. But wanting to get there- that’s the point of this song.”
Aldean is not listed as a songwriter.
