“Try That In A Small Town” – Is This Strike Three for Jason Aldean?

Thanks for stopping by today! I post every day at 1pm central because when I started out writing every single day, I was in Nashville (central time). Since then, my home switched from bricks to bumpers (I live in a travel trailer) and I now call eastern time zone Florida my home base. How’s that for information you didn’t ask for? 😉

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I recently came across the music video for Jason Aldean’s “Try That In A Small Town,” and I have a few reasons why this song (and video) might be strike three for the country singer. And it’s not only that the video was shot in Columbia, Tennessee, a nearby town to Nashville. When someone mentions Columbia, I don’t immediately think of Piggly Wiggly or people marrying their cousins, so is it REALLY a small town? I have serious doubts. Although I did run the Mule Kick 5K in Columbia, and there’s nothing more country than a 5K called Mule Kick where instead of water, they hand runners sweet tea. OK, they didn’t do that but you get my point.

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I was bummed to find out the video was directed by one of my favorite directors, Shaun Silva. He has a great resume of work, I love a lot of his videos and actually, his signature style is evident in this one. It’s not the video that bothers me, really. I’m just bummed because of the message of the song. If you’ve listened to it already, you can probably pick up on the divisiveness of the lyrics. Aldean’s delivery pretty much comes across as a dare. What someone can get away with in a big city, come try that in a small town and see what happens… is the gist of it.

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Was it smart for Jason Aldean to release a song including lyrics about guns after his concert in Vegas where a shooter killed 58 people (or 61, since 3 died years later, some say related to the initial shooting)? Most comments I’ve seen say, “No, this was a terrible idea.” In Jason’s defense, he didn’t write the lyrics (which is common in country music – to sing a song someone else wrote). But he has definitely linked himself forever to the song by stamping his name on it. When things are already on edge culturally, why? Why instigate more conflict? Why add to tensions that are already high in the part of society looking for a fight?

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I don’t have much doubt that at least some, maybe most, country fans will like the song. Maybe they won’t love it, but it’s not like Jason will get cancelled or anything. It’s so interesting to me that in one genre of music you can have a song that’s aggressive (this one) and another that’s soft (Brad Paisley’s “Same Here”) and both are so dumb. Brad’s is the dumbest, that isn’t really up for debate (explained here). Even in 291 years, “Same Here” will never be good in any possible way. Where Jason most likely screwed up is not even the song itself. Although the lyrics aren’t memorable, they aren’t terrible (for comparison, see Brad Paisley “Same Here” which is memorable for being so terrible). But the timing of the song hitting radios is not ideal. Well, I mean if peace is what we’re after. It’s a terrible time to release a song that will only feed into division, and what’s worse is that maybe adding to conflict was the point. If that’s true, it makes me like Jason even less. So is this strike three for Mr. Aldean?

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He already had two strikes against him after he (strike one) released a video for “Dirt Road Anthem” in which he sings the entire video ON A PAVED ROAD. Don’t even get me started. Then a couple of years after that he (strike two) cheated on his high school sweetheart wife. That’s terrible but the paved road, come on man! Can you tell I’m still upset about the the paved road?

For the divisive message in a time where unity is a loftier and more honorable aspiration, for the video being shot so close to a big city, for not including a video clip of someone going to Walmart in their pajamas (isn’t that what people in small towns do?), “Try That In A Small Town” is strike three for Jason Aldean. The video itself is well done, but the lyrics tank any good that could come from a song about small towns. Sorry, Jason, you’re out!

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What do you think of the video? Should the song be listened to without thinking too much about the lyrics? Chime in below…

-Out of the Wilderness