Country Music Television has downplayed the music video for country music superstar Jason Aldean’s song “Try That In A Small Town,” citing offensive lyrics and messages. Amid condemnation, it was deleted as being filmed at the lynching scene.
The video, released in May, was filmed in front of the Morley County Courthouse in Columbia, Tennessee, a site known for the mass lynching of 18-year-old black man Henry Choate in 1927. News footage is scattered. , including protests. While an American flag hangs between the building’s central pillars, Aldean strums his guitar and enumerates what he envisions as big-city behavior that would be unacceptable in a small town. “Car Jack the Old Lady”. “Taunt the police”. “Stomp on the flag.”
Rep. Justin Jones, a Democrat from Tennessee, denounced the song. on Twitterdescribed it as a “harrowing song calling for racist violence” promoting “a shameful vision of gun extremism and vigilanteism”.
CMT confirmed by email Tuesday that it had pulled the video off Monday, but offered no explanation. The news was first reported by signboard.
Aldean defended himself on Twitteraccused of “releasing pro-lynching songs” and claiming they were “not very happy” with the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests.
“These references are not only worthless, they are dangerous,” he said. “There is not a single lyric in the song that refers to or points out race, and there is not a single video clip that is not actual news footage. Song with music, this is overkill.”
Aldean then referenced his performance at an outdoor music festival in Las Vegas in 2017, where a gunman opened fire from a hotel room, killing 58 people.
“No one, including myself, wants to keep seeing nonsensical headlines and families being torn apart,” Aldean said. He added that the song referred to the “sense of community” he experienced as a child, where neighbors cared for each other regardless of their backgrounds and beliefs.
“My political views have never been hidden from me, and I know that many of us in this country disagree about how we can get back to a sense of normalcy. At least. A day goes by without a headline like this.” It keeps us up at night. But wanting it, that’s what the song is about,” Aldean said.
BRB Music Group, which represents Aldean, was not immediately available for comment.
