More controversy has emerged in relation to Jason Aldean’s divisive song, “Try That in a Small Town.”
The song’s music video has been taken down by the country network, CMT confirmed on Wednesday.
Despite the fact that the song came out back in May, the music video didn’t come out until July 14.
Before being taken down on Monday, the video was streamed by the masses on Sunday, as per Billboard.
The track, according to detractors, contains themes of racism and vigilantism, showing Black Lives Matter protests and flag burning, and even talks about sundown towns.
Sundown towns, for those who don’t know, were all-white communities…
Where people of colour were subject to hate and violence if they didn’t leave by the time the sun went down.
The recently released music video for the song “Try That in a Small Town” brought the debate surrounding the song to a new level.
Some viewers noted that the video featured sequences that appeared to have been taken in front of Columbia, Tennessee’s Maury County Courthouse.
Several instances of racial violence have taken place at the courtroom, including the hanging of a Black man called Henry Choate in 1927.
Additionally, it provided a setting for the Columbia Race Riot in 1946.
On top of this, Thurgood Marshall, the first black Supreme Court justice, came dangerously close to being killed as a result of the unrest.
So there is a lot of history there.
The music video also contains clips from demonstrations against police violence…
And images captured by security cameras showing criminal activity.
Aldean responded to the criticism in a tweet on Tuesday, saying:
“There isn’t a single video clip that isn’t real news footage.”
However, dozens have called the singer out, with one even calling it a “modern lynching song.”
His lyrics also sparked backlash.
In part of the song, he sings: “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 / 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.”
But Aldean is sticking with his defence, writing in a Tweet:
“Try That In A Small Town, for me, refers to the feeling of a community that I had growing up.”
“We took care of our neighbors, regardless of differences of background or belief. Because they were our neighbors, and that was above any differences.”
Despite this, Tennessee State Representative Justin Jones tweeted his own thoughts.
He wrote: “As Tennessee lawmakers, we have an obligation to condemn Jason Aldean’s heinous song calling for racist violence.”
“What a shameful vision of gun extremism and vigilantism. We will continue to call for common sense gun laws, that protect ALL our children and communities.”
Although singing about firearms is typical in country songs, and has been mentioned in many over the years…
Several fans found Aldean’s unfortunate past with gun violence made the lyrics a little perplexing.
In 2017, a shooter opened fire repeatedly into the audience while the performer was doing a concert at the Route 91 Music Harvest Festival in Las Vegas.
The shooting tragically killed 60 people and wounded over 400.
What makes his song more confusing is that Aldean opened out about his emotional experience following the tragedy…
He revealed that he was in favour of stronger gun control legislation.
The deadly shooting was mentioned in his social media message on Tuesday…
He wrote: “NO ONE, including me, wants to continue to see senseless headlines or families ripped apart.”
Despite the backlash, Aldean’s new track was shockingly played at CMA Fest.
However, they steered clear of showing the music video.
Since the music video came out, dozens of people have shared their thoughts, and now Sheryl Crow has joined in the debate.
She opened up on Twitter, saying he should know better.
She wrote: “@Jason_Aldean I’m from a small town. Even people in small towns are sick of violence.
“There’s nothing small-town or American about promoting violence. You should know that better than anyone having survived a mass shooting,” she tweeted.
“This is not American or small town-like. It’s just lame.”
Although many share Sheryl’s comments, that hasn’t stopped the song becoming a chart topper.
The track managed to take first place on iTunes for songs in the U.S. on Tuesday.
So it seems he has a lot of supporters on his side too.
The backlash has clearly gotten too much for Aldean, who took to Twitter to dismiss the negative comments he’s been receiving.
“In the past 24 hour 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, he began his post.
He continued: “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 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.”
He concluded, writing: “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 one day without a headline that keeps us up at night. But the desire for it to.”
