Try that in a small town

[Dan Druff]

Jason Aldean, the country singer who was most famous for being on stage in Las Vegas when Stephen Paddock started raining bullets upon the crowd, is in controversy over a new song and video.

Aldean released a song in May called, "Try That in a Small Town", which was a right-wing anthem regarding small town police (and citizens) having little tolerance for lawlessness and rioting.

The song got relatively little attention, despite some of its provocative lyrics, presumably because the country music space is generally right-leaning, and there have been many conservative-leaning country songs over the last few decades.

However, when Aldean released the video, which had real-life rioting and violent crime scenes interspersed, it got much more attention. CMT (Country Music Television) controversially pulled the video without explanation, which then caused a big backlash, and all of a sudden there's a lot of discussion on social media about this 2-month-old song.





Many of Aldean's critics are levying the following complaints:

- The song and video are racist, and is a thinly veiled attempt to justify lynching

- The song and video are conflating legitimate political protest with rioting/criminal behavior

- The song and video are a criticism of the BLM protests, which is therefore racist

- The courthouse Aldean performs in front of had two major racist incidents between 1927 and 1946, and this is secretly symbolic

- The song is meant to scare rural America into believing that big cities are cespools of lawlessness, and outsiders need to be either chased out or beaten

- The song and video promote vigilantism rather than traditional rule of law

- Aldean is glorifying guns, despite being present during the worst incident of gun violence in US history



I am a longtime country music fan. I'm also a conservative, as all of you know. I liked '80s and '90s country music much more than today's version, which is derisively referred by many today as "bro country".

The song itself is not great. They lyrics are not particularly creative (and some don't rhyme when they're supposed to), and the tune/chorus is mediocre at best. However, I have no problem with the message itself, and its left wing critics are completely misunderstanding it, much like they did with Toby Keith's "Brought to You Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue" in 2002, which was also mistakenly branded racist.

The message of the song is simple: Unlike in big cities, where police stand down (at the direction of woke city officials) and crimes are lightly or not prosecuted, small town America is still keeping order. If you try to loot, riot, smash-and-grab, or commit acts of violence, you will be met with both force and justice.

There was no statement in the song, either made or implied, against protest. There was nothing about race in the song, and all of the footage shown was real. If this disturbs people on the left, they should ask themselves why city officials allowed things like this to occur with little-to-no consequence.

The left wants you to ignore what's happening in the big cities, and if you do notice, you're supposed to believe that it's because of systemic racism. They don't want you to see an increasingly permissive system where entire classes of crime are not prosecuted by policy, where violent criminals are released with no bail, and where slap-on-the-wrist sentences for violence and rioting are common.

In short, "try that in a small down" means, "We're not putting up with violence here. Try it and we will defend ourselves." That's a good message, and I wish the "big towns" would do the same.

Aldean made a statement on Instagram, but strangely deleted it today. Part of it is quoted in this NY Post article: https://nypost.com/2023/07/18/jason-...amid-backlash/

I believe that this will help Aldean's career, just like Toby Keith's similar controversy in 2002 helped him. The core base of country music listeners can easily relate to the message in the song. This isn't like the controversy the Dixie Chicks had (also in 2002), where they torpedoed their career by criticizing America and President George W. Bush while performing on foreign soil.

Aldean should not have deleted his statement, and rather should keep leaning into this.

[Sanlmar]

The Dixie Chicks were right

[Texter]

The Dixie Chicks were right

Using Dixie in their name for years and years is racist...right.

[Baron Von Strucker]

[tyde]

lol @ black persons

[Dan Druff]

The Dixie Chicks were right

They weren't. The complaint about the war wasn't from the standpoint of centrist criticism regarding its necessity. It was from the lefty standpoint that it was "racist" (lol) and "violent". At no point did Natalie Maines articulate a reasonable case against the Iraq war which would stand up either then or today.

The removal of "Dixie" from their name pretty much says it all. Dixie itself does not have a negative or racist connotation. It's not like times have changed, and their name had become representative of something bad. Dixie simply meant "the southeastern United States". They equated it with a term for the Confederate Army, which is not true. It is a much broader term describing the region. They just became afraid to be associated with an area of the country which became dark red politically, and used the "slavery" thing as an excuse to drop that from their name.

Also, their feud with Toby Keith was ridiculous. Their issue was with his "Red, White, and Blue" song, which was clearly about getting retribution against the 9/11 terrorists. They lyrics made that extremely clear, and there was absolutely nothing racist or Islamophobic about his song. Despite that, Natalie Maines made a huge deal about it, calling the song (and Toby) "ignorant", and various other names. Then, when Keith responded explaining himself, Maines wore a shirt reading "FTK" at the Country Music Awards, which stood for "Fuck Toby Keith". When questioned about it, she lied and said it was "Friends for Truth and Kindness", and only later admitted it really meant Fuck Toby Keith.

Fuck Natalie Maines and the Dixie Chicks.

[Dan Druff]

Of course, the wokes recently misunderstood "Baby It's Cold Outside" and were convinced it was about rape, so they're not very good at analyzing song lyrics.

This is what occurs when you feel too much and think too little.

[Tellafriend]

Dixie itself does not have a negative or racist connotation.

as much as i would like this to be the case, sadly, it is not. at least for the past two decades.

[Sanlmar]

If the Dixie Chicks made an assertion that the Iraq war was racist I’d like to see some evidence.

Admittedly, I am not a country fan and did not follow the story too closely.

I have skimmed several articles and can find nothing to support your claim.

They struck me as somewhat simple (dumb) musicians who were anti war. Nothing wrong with that

All I remember from the story was a general censorship vibe. Less country music was probably a good thing so that was acceptable to me.

[tyde]

just watched video

America needs more of this

less tolerance for liberal insanity and more accountability for rioting and crime

more guns

harsher sentences for any crime involving violence or property destruction

nice job Jason Aldean

[Sanlmar]

just watched video

America needs more of this

less tolerance for liberal insanity and more accountability for rioting and crime

more guns

harsher sentences for any crime involving violence or property destruction

nice job Jason Aldean

People should be free to express publicly any feeling they may have behind locked doors. When that isn’t allowed or encouraged - well, that is censorship

Welcome to the 2020’s

Dropping Aldean from CMT radio or cable is just as anti American as the the Dixie Chick boycott.

Regarding the song, I cannot get over why people choose to live where they do. We are blessed with the freedom of movement. It has always mystified me.

People deciding what is misinformation, dangerous or threatening speech should anger you too

[Jayjami]

harsher sentences for any crime involving violence or property destruction

Agreed. All those Jan. 6 Trumptards should be hanged for treason.

[Dan Druff]

If the Dixie Chicks made an assertion that the Iraq war was racist I’d like to see some evidence.

Admittedly, I am not a country fan and did not follow the story too closely.

I have skimmed several articles and can find nothing to support your claim.

They struck me as somewhat simple (dumb) musicians who were anti war. Nothing wrong with that

All I remember from the story was a general censorship vibe. Less country music was probably a good thing so that was acceptable to me.

Sorry, I combined two things which I learned over time.

Initially, it did just look like Natalie Maines was a simplistic, anti-war hippie musician, who was dumb enough to vocalize her stance while performing abroad.

However, the following year, when she unfairly attacked Toby Keith's song for being "racist" about the same group of people (Arabs), it became clear that she was against the Iraq War for those same foolish racism concerns. She never articulated any reasonable concern about the war, such as the usefulness of it, or the somewhat questionable justification.

In short, Natalie Maines' actions after the anti-war speech removed any benefit of the doubt that one might have had, regarding her line of thinking.


Also, this incident is often (incorrectly) cited as an example of right-wing cancellation. It's often thrown in conservatives' faces when they complain about the left-fueled cancellations of today.

However, it's not the same thing. The Dixie Chicks were not cancelled. They were just shunned by their own industry and own former fans. That's not cancellation. Similarly, if I were a left wing talk show host and suddenly started spouting right wing talking points, and my audience decided to boycott me, that also would not be cancellation.

Cancellation is when you are either fired or ostracized from an apolitical position, over your political or social views.

For example, if people were to call for the boycotting of films an actor appears in, in order to ruin his career, because of a political view he expressed, that's cancellation.

If I had a job at a corporation developing software, and I was fired because people complained of my right wing politics, that would again be cancellation.

It is not cancellation when you are an entertainer in a field where your fans are overwhelmingly on one political side, and you stupidly express opinions on the other side which piss off these fans. That's what happened to the Dixie Chicks. I didn't really feel they needed to be boycotted by country fans, but I didn't feel sorry for them, either. Natalie Maines knew what she was doing when she bashed the US government while performing in London.

[Sanlmar]

The Dixie Chicks were not cancelled. They were just shunned by their own industry and own former fans. That's not cancellation.

Cancellation is when you are either fired or ostracized from an apolitical position, over your political or social views.

I was working 90 hour weeks and never listened to country. However, I still distinctly remember the hysteria surrounding the Chicks. This was not just country fans and industry. This was national headline news and there was quite a political hysteria. They are lucky to still be alive.

Yeah, I’m leaning cancellation here

I’m trying to put myself back in that period.

I was in electronics. My best friend was ex Navy. The Navy was famous at the time for teaching & producing cutting edge electronics people. His sister was one of the first female fighter pilots too. He was enormously proud of her. Iraq was a subject that we agreed to never discuss despite it being on the news nightly. It did get in the way of our friendship somewhat because the Navy was a huge part of his identity.

He was a a simple guy who came up hard. Wicked smaht tho. He straightened up in the military and didn’t know any better about world history. Booyah and all that.

[Mission146]

If the Dixie Chicks made an assertion that the Iraq war was racist I’d like to see some evidence.

Admittedly, I am not a country fan and did not follow the story too closely.

I have skimmed several articles and can find nothing to support your claim.

They struck me as somewhat simple (dumb) musicians who were anti war. Nothing wrong with that

All I remember from the story was a general censorship vibe. Less country music was probably a good thing so that was acceptable to me.

Sorry, I combined two things which I learned over time.

Initially, it did just look like Natalie Maines was a simplistic, anti-war hippie musician, who was dumb enough to vocalize her stance while performing abroad.

However, the following year, when she unfairly attacked Toby Keith's song for being "racist" about the same group of people (Arabs), it became clear that she was against the Iraq War for those same foolish racism concerns. She never articulated any reasonable concern about the war, such as the usefulness of it, or the somewhat questionable justification.

In short, Natalie Maines' actions after the anti-war speech removed any benefit of the doubt that one might have had, regarding her line of thinking.


Also, this incident is often (incorrectly) cited as an example of right-wing cancellation. It's often thrown in conservatives' faces when they complain about the left-fueled cancellations of today.

However, it's not the same thing. The Dixie Chicks were not cancelled. They were just shunned by their own industry and own former fans. That's not cancellation. Similarly, if I were a left wing talk show host and suddenly started spouting right wing talking points, and my audience decided to boycott me, that also would not be cancellation.

Cancellation is when you are either fired or ostracized from an apolitical position, over your political or social views.

For example, if people were to call for the boycotting of films an actor appears in, in order to ruin his career, because of a political view he expressed, that's cancellation.

If I had a job at a corporation developing software, and I was fired because people complained of my right wing politics, that would again be cancellation.

It is not cancellation when you are an entertainer in a field where your fans are overwhelmingly on one political side, and you stupidly express opinions on the other side which piss off these fans. That's what happened to the Dixie Chicks. I didn't really feel they needed to be boycotted by country fans, but I didn't feel sorry for them, either. Natalie Maines knew what she was doing when she bashed the US government while performing in London.

As usual, your posts are generally a good take on things, but are ever so slightly too forgiving on the Conservative side.

Before we get into that, I would first like to say that, "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue," should be our goddamn national anthem. Toby Keith fucking rules and Oklahomans mostly seem pretty cool, in general. I tend to think of Oklahomans as being closer to Libertarian-minded, as opposed to far right conservative, as a group.

Anyway, if internet campaigns and phone calls constitute, 'Cancellation,' then I'd really love to know how publicly running over albums with a tractor, burning them and throwing them in dumpsters is not. Explain to me how that is not a call for boycott. Naturally, Southern conservatives are a bunch of fucking idiots who seem to believe that a band of ZERO political import should not be entitled to have its own opinions on things. Big free speech Constitutionalists down there, I tell you.

Also, Natalie Maines' net worth is still in the tens of millions, so those idiots really showed her.

If you really must dispose of the albums (why?) just do it quietly at home and refrain from buying future albums. The very fact that Southerners took this as some sort of rallying point just demonstrates the fact that they're a bunch of idiots. Some member of a band says something they don't like and they feel the need to have a collective emotional outburst? How easily manipulated. Just like they were when they defended the (second) Iraq War. LOL

[Sloppy Joe]

The message of the song is simple: Unlike in big cities, where police stand down (at the direction of woke city officials) and crimes are lightly or not prosecuted, small town America is still keeping order. If you try to loot, riot, smash-and-grab, or commit acts of violence, you will be met with both force and justice.

Small town bumpkin police are inordinately more retarded and likely to fuck up.

I don't think your country chubby earring faggot should be cancelled but marrone what an awful song.

Never has the country been more embarrassing than when triggered right wing babies lost their shit over the Dixie Chicks trashing W and the Iraq war (These same babies are now MAGAtards who agree with that sentiment btw). I remember a radio station making a huge stink over it and playing the Fleetwood Mac version of 'Landslide' on repeat for 12 hours in protest.

Anyone that gets outraged and cries over opinions expressed by entertainers should noose immediately.

[Tellafriend]

I don't think your country chubby earring faggot should be cancelled but marrone what an awful song.

[Dan Druff]

The message of the song is simple: Unlike in big cities, where police stand down (at the direction of woke city officials) and crimes are lightly or not prosecuted, small town America is still keeping order. If you try to loot, riot, smash-and-grab, or commit acts of violence, you will be met with both force and justice.

Small town bumpkin police are inordinately more retarded and likely to fuck up.

I don't think your country chubby earring faggot should be cancelled but marrone what an awful song.

Never has the country been more embarrassing than when triggered right wing babies lost their shit over the Dixie Chicks trashing W and the Iraq war (These same babies are now MAGAtards who agree with that sentiment btw). I remember a radio station making a huge stink over it and playing the Fleetwood Mac version of 'Landslide' on repeat for 12 hours in protest.

Anyone that gets outraged and cries over opinions expressed by entertainers should noose immediately.

It was an overreaction, but it was Maines' fault for not knowing their audience.

Picture a successful rapper bashing BLM in 2020. It was that level of cluelessness.

Not the same as cancellation. It was a matter of expressing a controversial opinion which was bound to be unpopular with your fans, and shooting your popularity in the foot.

At the time, I did not feel sorry for Maines or the Dixie Chicks, nor did I feel outraged or that they needed to be boycotted. Had they kept on playing Dixie Chicks music on country radio, I'd have been 100% fine with it. Was never a big fan of theirs anyway.

The fight she picked with Toby Keith that same year was just as idiotic, but in a different way. She completely misunderstood the song, which is pretty amazing given that the song was very straightforward and unsophisticated. She just wanted to do an early 2000s version of virtue signaling.

Regarding "country bumpkin police", I agree they're more likely to fuck up, but Aldean is correct that towns like that are far less likely to put up with bullshit. If you tried to riot, burn buildings/cars, block roads, or commit smash-and-grab robberies in a small red town, it would likely end badly for you. The whole idiotic woke concept of "give these people space and let them get their rage out" doesn't exist in places like that. They just take care of the problem, with whatever force necessary. That's actually the correct approach. There is zero precedent in modern US society where permissiveness about crime and rioting leads to safer streets. These type of people only respond to force and consequence. It's a longtime liberal fantasy that the criminals will respect you if you respect them.

That's what Aldean was trying to say in the song. While society has changed in a lot of the US over the past 10 years -- most of it for the worse -- small town America is still the same, and won't put up with criminal bullshit.

That's actually a good message. The song itself, from a musical standpoint, isn't particularly good though.

[Kuntmissioner]

Regarding "country bumpkin police", I agree they're more likely to fuck up

Anyone who's ever been in a room with off duty cops while COPS aired knows that the only thing bumpkin cops do is fuck up. Procedure, their own safety protocols, when to draw weapons, etc.

[nightmarefish]

I’ve seen JA in concert a couple times, dude is top top. But that song is terrible, not even talking about the lyrics. Has to be one of his worst songs.