I love the atmosphere of small southern towns. I was raised in a small town in South Carolina and have now lived in my current small town for forty years. In between, I lived in some large metropolitan cities. No, thank you. I do not care to do that again.
Give me the small town any day. The friendly atmosphere of small-town life just cannot be replicated in the big cities.
Country star Jason Aldean has caused a big stir around the country with his new song, “Try That in a Small Town.” The song was released in May but got little attention until the video came out recently. Critics are foaming at the mouth accusing Jason Aldean of racism. There is not one word about race in the entire song.
The race baiters have tried their best to paint the video as racist. There is a scene in the video of a courthouse in Tennessee where there were race riots in 1946 and there was a lynching there in 1927. It turns out the Courthouse has been featured in many videos through the years. It also happens to be near Aldean’s home and therefore the most likely courthouse to be used in a video.
Aldean released a statement saying that the song represents an “unspoken rule” for those who are raised in a small town. “We all have each other’s backs, and we look out for each other.”
The songs’ lyrics present a list of crimes that might happen in big cities (“Sucker punch somebody on a sidewalk, carjack an old lady at a red light”). It warns these outsiders that it won’t be tolerated in a small town.
“Well, try that in a small town. See how far you 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.”
Scenes in the video show rioting in the streets, police encounters and vandalizing of shops and stores. Many of the scenes are from stock footage in newsrooms.
When Aldean was accused of being “pro-lynching” he doubled down and fought back. He rightly pointed out that the attacks are simply ridiculous.
He said, “There is not a single lyric in the song that references race or points to it. 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.”
The outcry turns out to be the best thing that could happen for the future of the song. It climbed all the way to Number 1 in the charts, almost immediately.
Some people are just tired of cancel culture. If we accept the fact that every site in the country had bad things happen there (such as the incidents at the Maury County Courthouse in the video) then everything is off limits. Including the White House itself.
Aldean also mentions in the song that he has a gun that his granddad gave him. The gun critics take that as a veil threat and claim that it promotes gun violence.
The song talks about the “good ol boys, raised up right”. It also points out that if you “cuss out a cop, spit in his face” you might get treated harsher than you might in a big city.
I knew very little about Jason Aldean before this song. I couldn’t tell you one single song he ever sang, but I will remember this one.
For those of us who love our small towns, we absolutely relate to the lyrics in this song. We strongly recommend that you don’t try these things in a small town.
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Joyce Krawiec serves in the North Carolina Senate. She represents Davie County and Forsyth County, NC. Christian, wife, mother, small business owner, and conservative.