Jason Aldean is defending his new controversial song and music video that was pulled by CMT, calling claims made against the track “not only meritless, but dangerous.”
After Aldean released “Try That In a Small Town” in May and its accompanying music video on Friday, it was criticized for promoting gun violence and taking aim at the Black Lives Matter movement.
The track features the lyrics: “Cuss out a cop, spit in his face/Stomp on the flag and light it up/Yeah, ya think you’re tough/Well, try that in a small town/See how far ya make it down the road.” Aldean later sings on the song, “Got a gun that my granddad gave me/They say one day they’re gonna round up/Well, that shit might fly in the city, good luck.”
The music video features the burning of the American flag, protests, looting and more. CMT, which is dedicated to country music videos, pulled the clip from its rotation on Monday.
Aldean denied the allegations against his song in a tweet on Tuesday.
“In the past 24 hours I have been accused of releasing a pro-lynching song … and was subject to the comparison that I (direct quote) was not too pleased with the nationwide BLM protests. These references are not only meritless, but dangerous,” he wrote. “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.”
On social media some users were offended by the lyrics, especially since Aldean was performing onstage at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival in Las Vegas in 2017 when a shooter opened fire and killed 60 concertgoers and injured hundreds more. In his tweet, the Grammy-nominated star referenced the tragedy: “NO ONE, including me, wants to continue to see senseless headlines or families ripped apart.”
“‘Try That In A Small Town,’ for me, refers to 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 continued. “My political views have never been something I’ve hidden from, and 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. But the desire for it to- that’s what this song is about.”
“Try That In a Small Town” peaked at No. 35 on Billboard’s Hot country songs chart in June. The song is No. 25 on this week’s Billboard country airplay chart, which tracks success at country radio.
