Jason Aldean’s Hit Song Tops Charts Despite Left-Wing Backlash
Country singer Jason Aldean is facing backlash for a song with anti-riot lyrics calling out leftist policies, including Country Music Television (CMT) pulling the music video off the air — but his supporters still managed to help the song skyrocket to number one on the iTunes chart.
Aldean’s song, “Try That In A Small Town,” was released in May, but the music video didn’t come out until July 14. The music video for the song contains clips of the violent George Floyd riots from 2020 juxtaposed with lyrics about the violence being perpetrated in cities.
The chorus of the song suggests that the criminals would face resistance and harsher penalties in small towns.
“Well, try that in a small town
See how far ya make it down the road
Around here, we take care of our own
You cross that line, it won’t take long
For you to find out, I recommend you don’t
Try that in a small town”
The left showed their true colors in calling out the song — claiming that the lyrics condemning rioting, looting and carjacking were “racist” and “pro-lynching.” While Aldean never mentioned race once in the song, his detractors automatically thought of Black people when they heard the lyrics.
The 46-year-old country singer responded to the criticism in a lengthy tweet, calling it “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,” the tweet continued.
Aldean went on to explain that his song was intended to be 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 the tweet by pointing out that his “political views” are well known, but the song was actually about his “desire” to get back to some “sense of normalcy.”
The music video for his song has been viewed 2.2 million times as of Wednesday evening.
After CMT pulled the song and many leftists attacked Aldean on Twitter, including singer Sheryl Crow, the song skyrocketed up to the top of the all-genre chart, taking the place of current chart toppers like Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night,” Whiskey Riff reported. The song also rose to number one on the iTunes Country Top 40 chart, according to Billboard.
