Country Music Television has released a music video for the song “Try That in a Small Town,” by country music superstar Jason Aldean, filmed at the site of a lynching, amid accusations that its lyrics and message are offensive.
The video, released in May, was shot in front of the Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, Tenn., a site known for the 1927 mob lynching of Henry Choate, an 18-year-old Black man, and was interspersed with violent news footage. , including protests. An American flag drapes between the building’s central pillars, as Aldean, playing guitar, lists what he thinks are big-city behaviors that wouldn’t be well-received in a small town; “carjack an old lady”; “cuss out a cop”; “Step on the flag.”
State Representative Justin Jones of Tennessee, a Democrat, condemned the song on Twitterdescribing it as a “disgusting song that called for racist violence” that promoted “a shameful vision of gun extremism and vigilantism.”
On Tuesday, CMT confirmed via email that it had stopped airing the video on Monday, but offered no explanation. The news was first reported by Billboard.
Aldean’s defense on Twitterwho asserted that he was accused of “putting out a pro-lynching song” and was “not very happy” with the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests.
“These references are not only pointless, but dangerous,” he said. “There is not one lyric in the song that defines race or points to it- and there is not one 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.”
Aldean then referenced his 2017 performance at an outdoor music festival in Las Vegas, where a gunman opened fire from a hotel room, killing 58 people.
“NOBODY, including me, wants to keep seeing meaningless headlines or families torn apart,” Aldean said. The song, he added, refers to the “feeling of a community” he experienced growing up, where neighbors looked out for each other, regardless of background or creed.
“My political views have never been something I’ve hidden, and I know that many of us in this Country disagree on how we’re going to get back to normalcy where we go one day without headlines keeping us up at night. But the desire for it to — that’s what this song is about,” Aldean said.
BRB Music Group, which represents Aldean, could not immediately be reached for comment.
